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Missionary Labors 



OF 



Fathers Marquette, Menard and Allouez, 



IN THE 



LAKE SUPERIOR REGION. 



BY 



Rev. CHRYSOSTOM VERWYST, 0. S. P., 



Bayfield, Wis. 




Missionary Labors 



OF 



Fathers Marquette, Menard and Allouez, 



LAKE SUPERIOR REGION. 



BY 



^^ 



Rev. CHRYSOSTOM VERWYST, 0. S. R, 

OF 

-7^ _ o ^ Bayfield, Wis. 



HOFFMANN BROTHERS, 



Publishers, 
MILWAUKEE: CHICAGO: 

413 East Water Street. 207 Wabash Avenue. 

1886. 



I" /O^o 

.r 



Cuwm itermto^tt $Mpevlortim. 



Entered according' to Act of Congress, in the year 1886, 

By Rkv. Chrysostom Vkkwvst, (). S. F., 

in the oflaee of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 



ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 



'"'i 










L>^ 



PREFACE. 



fHE writing of this little work has been a labor of love to 
the author. About a year ago his attention was drawn 
to the labors of Fathers Allouez and Marquette in the 
vicinity of Ashland and Bayfield. Then came the question: 
Where are we to look for the site of their church in this 
neighborhood? Popular opinion pointed out La Pointe on 
Madeline Island as the place where the old Jesuit church once 
stood. Having written, however, to a Very Rev. Friend, 
whose name elsewhere occurs in this little volume, in regard 
to this matter, he soon ascertained from the citations given 
from the "'Jesuit Relations" of 1667-71, that we must not 
look for the site of said church on Madelaine Island, but on 
the mainland, at the head of Chagaouamigong (Chequame- 
gon) Bay. The reading of these citations awakened in the 
writer a desire to learn more of the history of said mission, 
and he accordingly expressed a wish to that effect to the 
Very Rev. Gentleman above referred to, who kindly sent him 
the " Relations " and many other works containing much 
valuable information in regard to the history of the early 
missionaries of the Lake Superior region. These sources 
of information the writer has used in the compilation of the 
little work he now offers to the public. He is fully aware of 
its great imperfection. The care of an extensive mission 
made it impossible to bestow that care and study upon the 
work, which it deserves. Still, he has honestly endeavored 
to do his best to give the reader a reliable and full account 
of the labors and trials of the three most prominent Jesuit 
Fathers that worked in the missionary field of northern Wis- 
consin. We mean Father Menard, who arrived in the Lake 
Superior country in 1660; Father Allouez, who came to 
Chagaouamigong in 1665, and Father Marquette, who labored 



IV 

here from 1669-71. We have endeavored to give facts and 
dates as truthfully and reliably as could be ascertained, for 
the reader wants history, not romance. If there is anything 
the writer detests it is the superficial, romancing style of 
historical writing so common nowadays in magazines, news- 
papers, and books of travel. They are generally a mixture 
of true and error, written by men gifted with a certain amount 
of superficial knowledge, but to whom truth is a matter of 
only secondary importance, their main aim being to appear 
cute and smart and to write sensational stuff, so as to find 
ready sale for their crude productions. We see enough of 
that romancing style of writing history in the newspaper ac- 
counts of the La Pointe church and the early Jesuit mission 
in this vicinity. We have endeavored to avoid their ways, 
seeking but the plain truth in all things. At the bottom of 
the respective page we always give the author's name, with 
the number of the page, so that the reader can verify our 
statements. However, we do not claim infallibility. To err 
is human, and in spite of all our endeavors we may have 
made occasionally a mistake, for which we ask the reader's 
indulgence. In the preparation of this work we have re- 
ceived valuable assistance from the Very Rev. Friend above 
spoken of, and others who sent us historical documents; to 
all and everyone of whom we hereby tender our sincere 
thanks. We have added some "Historical and biographical 
notes," as also a short dissertation on some peculiarities of 
the Chippewa language, which we hope may be of interest 
to the reader. Whatever will be realized from the sale of 
this little book will be applied for the benefit of the Indian 
mission. Should this little work contribute ever so little 
towards promoting respect for the memory of the pious and 
zealous missionaries spoken of in its pages, the writer will 
consider himself abundantly repaid for all the labor bestowed 
upon it. 

Bayfiei^d, Wis., July 14, 1886. 



I N DEX. 



Page 
I. Father Menard, the pioneer missionary of Lake 
Superior; his labors, trial and hardships among 
the Hurons and Iroquois ; his journey to St. 

Theresa (Keweenaw) Bay 9 

II. Father Menard's labors at St. Theresa Bay 18 

III. Continuation of Father Menard's labors and suffer- 

ings at St. Theresa Bay ; his death at the head- 
waters of Black River 24 

IV. Great earthquake in Canada and its prodigious 

effects 32 

V. Journal of the voyage of Father Claude Allouez to 

the land of the Outaouacs (Ottawas) 36 

VI. On the arrival of the missionary and his stay at the 
Bay of the Holy f J host, called Chagaouamigong 

(Chequamegon) 44 

VII. General council of the tribes of the Outaouac 

country 46 

VIII. On the false gods and superstitious customs of the' 

Indians of that country 48 

IX. Account of the mission of the Holy Ghost at Lake 

Tracy (Lake Superior) ,52 

X. On the mission of the Tionnontateheronnons (Hu- 
rons of Tionnontate or Tobacco Nation) -55 

XI. On the mission of the Outaouacs, Kiskakoumac 

and Outaouasinagouc. 57 

XII. On the mission of the Pouteouatamiouec (Potta- 

watami ) 59 

XIII. On the mission of the Ousakiouek (Sacs) and Outa- 

gamiouek (Foxes) 64 

XIV. On the mission of the lllimouec or Alimouec (Illi- 

nois). 66 



VI 

XV. On the mission of the Nadouessiouek (Sioux) 68 

XVI. On the mission of the Kilistinonp (Crees) and that 

of the Outchibouec (Chippewas) 69 

XVII. On the mission of the Nipissirinieiis (Nipissings), 
and of the voyage of Father Allouez ti« Luke 
Alimibegong (Nepigon) 7] 

XVIII. Father Allouez goes to Quebec. He returns to the 

Outaouacs 73 

XIX. On the mission of the Holy Ghost among the Outa- 
ouacs 75 

XX. On the mission of LaPointe du Saint Esi)rit in tlie 

country of the Algonquin Outaouacs 77 

XXI. On the mission among the Outaouacs and es- 
pecially of the mission Saiilt SLe. Marie 83 

XXII. On the nature and peculiaiities of the Sault and of 

the tribes who are in the liabit of going there. . . 84 

XXIII. On the mission of the Holy Ghost at the Point of 

Chagaouamigong (Chequamegon) in Lake Tracy 
or Superior 88 

XXIV. On the mines of copper founsl at Lake Superior. ... 89 
XXV. Of the tribes connected with the mission of the 

Holy Ghost at 1 he Point, called Chagaouamigong 94 

XXVI. Letter of Father Marquette to the Rev. Father 

Superior of the mission 96 

•XXVII. Necessary explanation in order to get a correct 

idea of the Outaouac missions 105 

XXVIII. The formal taking possession of the entire Ou- 
taouac country in the name of the king of Fi ance 109 

XXIX. The mission of the Holy Ghost at the extremity of 
Lake Superior abandoned ; Father Marquette 

goes to Missilimackinac (Mackinaw) 113 

XXX. Father Marquette at St. Ignace 114 

XXXI. Subsequent career of Father Marquette; he dis- 
covers and explores the Mississippi ; returns to 
the Bay of the Puants (Green Bay) 116 

XXXII. Last voyage of Father Marquette. He founds the 
mission of the Immaculate Conception among 
the Illinois and dies on his way back to Mack- 
inaw , , , 128 



VJI 

XXXIII. Discovery of Father Marquette's grave at Point St. 
Ignace, Mich. Letter of Very Rev. Father E. 
Jacker to the writer, giving a full account of 
said discovery made by him 186 

XXX 1\\ lie-establishment of the mission of the Holy Ghost 
under the patronage of St. Joseph, by Father 
Baraga ; his successors ; present state of the 
mission ; conclusion 143 

APPEJ^DIX. 

I. Biographical and historical notes 153 

II. Indian customs of Lake Superior country 193 

III. Some peculiarities of the Chippewa language 246 

lY. Comparison of the Chippewa with the languages, 

ancient and modern, of the Old World 253 

V. Chronological Table 258 



CHAPTER I. 



Father Menard, the Pioneer Missionary of Lake Su- 
perior; HIS LABORS, TRIALS AND HARDSHIPS AMONG THE 

HuRONs AND Iroquois; his journey to St. Theresa 
(Keweenaw) Bay. 

Towards the end of March, 1640, three vessels bound for 
Quebec left the harbor of Dieppe, France, and casting anchor 
within sight of the town, they awaited a favorable breeze for 
their westerly voyage. A terrible storm, however, broke 
out, which lasted from the 26th of March to the 28th of 
April. " I do not know," said Father Menard, who was 
aboard the flagship of the flotilla, the ' Esperance,' "I do 
not know whether the evil spirits foresaw some great good 
to be effected by our passage, but apparently they were 
determined to sink us in the very roadstead. They stirred 
up the whole ocean; they unchained the winds and excited 
tempests so frightful and continuous, that they came near 
destroying us within sight of Dieppe." On board the same 
vessel were another Jesuit Father and two lay -brothers, two 
Sisters of Mercy and two Ursuline Nuns, all of them deter- 
mined to devote the rest of their lives to the service of the 
Catholic colonists and the pagan Indians of Canada, or, as it 
was then called, New France. 

After a pleasant voyage of two months, they reached 
Tadoussac, June 1st, and in a few days later Quebec, which 
was then but a poor fort with a few log houses. In 1608, 
one year after the building ot Jamestown, Virginia, Cham plain 
built the first log cabin in Quebec. In 1629 it was burnt by 
a French party in the service of the English, but three years 
later, when Canada was restored to the French, it was rebuilt 
and from that time became the center whence Missionaries 
were sent in all directions. 

About a year after his arrival. Father Menard was sent to 
the Hurons. This tribe occupied a small strip of territory 



10 

on the southeastern shore of Georgian Bay and were theii 
a large and prosperous tribe, numbering at least 30,000 souls, 
living in some twent}^ large settlements. Their deadly foes 
were the Iroquois, or Five Nations of New York, with whom 
they were continually in war and by whom they were well 
nigh exterminated in 1648-49^ A small party, numbering 
about 600, after many wanderings through the wilds of Michi- 
gan and Wisconsin, came to reside on the shores of Cha- 
gaouamigong* Bay and the Apostles Islands, where Father 
Allouez found them in 1665. 

To give an idea of Father Menard's voyage to his Huron 
Mission, we will give the description given by another Mis- 
sionary: "Of two difficulties regularly met with, the first 
is that of rapids and portages; for these abound in every 
river throughout those regions. When a person approaches 
such cataracts or rapids, he has to step ashore and carry on 
his back, through forests or over high, vexatious rocks, not 
only his baggage, but also the canoe. This is not accom- 
plished without much labor; for there are portages of one, 
two and three leagues, each of them, besides, requiring sev- 
eral journeys, if one has ever so small a number of pack- 
ages. At some places, where the rapids are not less swift than 
at the portages, but of easier access, the Indians, plunging 
into the water, drag their canoes and conduct them with their 
hands with utmost difficulty and danger; for sometimes they 
are up to their necks in the current, so that they have to let 
go their hold upon their canoes and save themselves as best 
they can from the rapidity of the water, that snatches the 
canoe out of their hands and carries it off I have com- 
puted the number of portages and find that we carried thirty- 
five times and dragged at least fifty times. The second 
ordinary difficulty concerns food. A person is often obliged 
to fast, especially if he happens to lose the places where he 
stowed away provisions on his down-river course. Even 

1. See " Histoi'ica) and biographical notes," where a short sketch of the 
rise and downfall of the Huron mission is given. 

2. Chagaouamigong, pronounced Sha-ga-wa-mi-gong. To pronounce In- 
dian words, observe that 

a is pronounced lilce a in father, far. 

e is pronounced like a in way, say. 

i is pronounced like ee in feel, seen. 

o is pronounced like o in own, sown. 

ou is pronounced like oo in foot, fool. 

French ch is pronounced like sh in she, show. 

kw is pi'onouoced like q. iu queen. 



11 

when he finds them, his appetite remains none the less keen 
for having regaled himself with their contents, for the usual 
repast is only a little corn, broken between two stones and 
sometimes simply taken in fresh water, which is insipid food. 
Sometimes he has fish, but this is mere chance, unless he hap- 
pen to pass some tribe from whom he can buy it. Add to this 
that a person must sleep on the bare ground, perhaps on a 
hard rock — that he has to breathe an air infected by the 
smell of labor-worn savages, to walk in the water, through 
morasses and amidst the darkness and embarrassment of 
forests, where the stings of innumerable little flies and mos- 
quitoes molest him not a little." 

Indian missionary life two hundred years ago was indeed 
hard. The pagan Indian treated the poor, defenseless mis- 
sionary with inhuman brutality, made him the butt of his 
coarse raillery and contempt. The missionary was com- 
pletely at the mercy of the savage Indian, and many a 
Father, after years of untold hardships and sufferings, was 
burnt at the stake or tomahawked. Wisconsin soil has been 
watered with the blood of two, perhaps three, of such apos- 
tolic men\ Nothing but long continued proofs of disinter- 
ested zeal, sincerity of intention and purity of life, and the 
constant exhibition of heaven-born charity, imperturbable 
peace of mind and evangelical meekness, joined with fearless 
courage and apostolical freedom of speech, could at length 
dispel the darkness of the Indian mind — such as measured 
the merit of a man by the breadth of his shoulders and the 
number of scalps hung up in his wigwam. A most cowardly 
fear of supernatural evil influences, going side by side with 
savage prowess and contempt of danger in war, and studi- 
ously kept alive by crafty medicine-men, was not a less 
powerful obstacle against the reception of Christianity. To 
ward off those evil influences, the minutest attention to num- 
berless superstitious practices was considered indispensable, 
and those. refusing to participate in the national demon wor- 
ship were, as in the days of the Caesars, held as declared 
enemies of their own kith and kin and of the whole tribe. 
Adding the fact that polygamy was almost universally prac- 
ticed, at least among the tribes of Lake Superior, among the 
Foxes, Ottawas, Pottawatamis, and other tribes of Wiscon- 

1. See "Hist, and biog-. notes," for a short dissertation on the three mar- 
tyred missionaries of Wisconsin. 



12 

sin and Michigan, it is no wonder that such peoj^le turned a 
deaf ear to the teachers of a religion which condemned and 
forbade their national custom. Besides, their mode of liv- 
ing, huddled together in small wigwams, almost necessarily- 
engendered lewdness and licentiousness. Moreover, their 
limited range of thought made their daily conversation gen- 
erally turn upon topics of low, animal gratifications, which 
poisoned the minds and hearts of the young. Living free 
and untrammelled by the laws and customs of civilized and 
Christian life, they felt all restraint irksome and hence dis- 
liked a religion that bound them down to the observance of 
certain laws and duties wholly at variance with their pagan 
modes of life. Finally, their defective mental capacity pre- 
vented them from understanding and appreciating the innate 
beauty of virtue, religion, and of pure, spiritual, heavenly 
joys. The only thing that could make any impression on 
their dark, pagan minds, was the threat, constantly held be- 
fore them by the missionary, of frightful, endless torments 
in the fire of hell. This and this alone could prevail on them 
to give up their superstitious and animal mode of life and 
embrace Christianity with its enlightening, soul-purifying 
and heavenward elevating doctrines. Even then their child- 
ish ficklemindedness made the early missionaries very slow 
and cautious in admitting them to Baptism Hence their 
first Baptisms were generally those of little children, as yet 
uncontaminated by vice, and the dying, whom they carefully 
prepared for that holy Sacrament. But let us return to 
Father Menard and his fellow-laborers among the Hurons. 

After years < if patient labor among that tribe, their per- 
severance was at last rewarded by an abundant harvest. 
There was a reasonable hope that soon the whole tribe would 
be converted, but Iroquois incursions in 1648 and 1649 broke 
up the missions. Fifteen towns were abandoned, some of the 
Fathers, as for instance Brebeuf and Lallemant^, were tortured 
and burnt at the stake. The people who had escaped death or 
captivity, fled in every direction, some to the kindred Tionon- 
tates, Attiwarandonk and Fries, whilst others sought refuge 
among their Algonquin friends on Lake Huron and Superior. 

Up to that time Father Menard had been employed 
partly in the Huron mission, partly among the Algonquin 

1. See "His. and biog-. notes" for a detailed account of the glorious 
martyrdom of these two Fathers. 



13 

tribes, especially the Mpissing and Atontrates. After the 
ruin of the Huron missions he labored chiefly in the Indian 
and French settlements at Three Rivers. Seven years later 
an extremely hazardous mission was started among the Iro- 
quois, who feigned a desire for peace and Menard was one of 
the Fathers sent there. He reached the south shore of Lake 
Ontario in July, 1656, and before the end of the year he col- 
lected around him on Lake Cayuga, a small flock of Chris- 
tians, consisting chiefly of Huron captives. His gentle ways 
and almost motherly kindness made him greatly beloved by 
the numerous prisoners of war, swept together from among 
a score of different Indian tribes and kept as slaves in the 
Iroquois country. Misfortune had softened their hearts and 
made them accessible to the tidings of salvation. Even the 
fierce Iroquois felt the mild but potent influence of this holy 
missionary's zeal and many of them were baptized. In a 
short time he converted and baptized there some four hundred 
Indians. A letter of his written about a year after the open- 
ing of the Cayuga mission reveals to us his ardent and fear- 
less zeal. He writes:^ 

" T praise God that your Reverence still takes an interest 
in our affairs; but I am a little suprised to hear you speak 
in a tone different from that to which we were accustomed. 
How long ago is it since you wrote we had nothing to fear, 
that God continued sending you wherewith to support us 
in this remote corner of the world ? How is it that you now 
complain of our too great expenses ? We are in a place 
where the cost of living is very much greater than among 
the Hurons, and where we have no assistance to expect from 
the country itself, among false traitors, who ill-treat us by 
right of prescription. There is a crowd of captives here, 
gathered from all sides, who after all are capable of being 
made children of God. Of these I alone have since last year 
baptized more than four hundred. We walk with our heads 
lifted up in the midst of dangers, through insults, hootings, 
calumnies, tomahawks and knives, with which they often enough 
run after us, to put us to death. Almost daily we are on the 
eve of being massacred, "as dying and behold we live." 
And you tell us that you are no more able to support this 
mission. I prefer, my Rev. Father, to stand by the last words 

1. "Relation" of 1657. p. 56. We cite from the Quebec edition of 1858, 
"which is a i-eprint of the edition of Sebastian Cramoisy, Paris, 1657-1673. 



14 

of your letter, where you remark that after all, if we do our 
part well, God will do His as far as will be needed. Yes, as- 
suredly, He will succor us, if we seek but His glory, if we 
expose our lives to have His blood applied to those poor, 
abandoned souls. This very thing all our Fathers here are 
doing with incredible trouble and labor. Should God, who 
led us into this land of barbarians, allow us to be slaughtered, 
praise be to Him for ever ! Jesus, His Gospel, the salvation 
of those poor souls, these are the inducements that retain us 
here and make us tarry, as it were, in the midst of flames. 
Men burnt and devoured are sights to which our eyes are accustomed. 
Pray you to God, that He may make Christians of those 
cannibals, and that He may strengthen us more and more; 
and we, we shall beg Him to move the hearts of those who 
love Him, so that they may enable you to assist us." Thus* 
wrote this saintly man to his Superior in Quebec. 

The time for the spiritual regeneration of the Iroquois Na- 
tion had not yet come. The tomahawk, treacherously buried 
for a while, to draw a number of Huron fugitives and of 
French laymen, as well as priests, into the country, was 
raised again in the spring of 1658. Only stratagem and secret 
flight, most skillfully planned and luckily accomplished, 
could save the lives of fifty-three Frenchmen, by the council 
of the headmen condemned to death in the heart of the Iro- 
quois country. With a bleeding heart Father Menard left 
with the rest in the silence of the night. Far sooner would 
he have stayed with his neophytes, and, if necessary, have 
suffered death at his post. He felt as if his heart had been 
torn out of his body, or as a mother violently torn away from 
her children; but obedience called him away, and so he de- 
parted with the rest. Two years later we see him go to the 
Lake Superior country, where he perished in the wilds of 
Wisconsin, trying to bring the consolations of religion to a 
few starving Hurons at the headwaters of Black River. 

The first attempt to carry the gospel to Lake Superior 
country was made in 1642 by Raymbault and Jogues^. They 
reached Sault Ste. Marie and were well received by the two 
thousand Indians assembled there. But obedience compelled 
them to rtturn to the lower missions, where their services 
were deemed indisper sable. Again in 1656, Fathers Garreau 

1. See "Hist, and biog-. notes" for a detailed account of his labors, suf- 
ferings and death. 



15 

and Gabriel Drouillettes embarked with an Ottawa party, but 
having fallen into an Iroquois ambush, between Three Rivers 
and Montreal, Garreau was mortally wounded b}^ a Mohawk 
ball ;ind Drouillettes abandoned by the Ottawas in their pre- 
cipitate flight. 

In 1660 another Ottawa flotilla of sixty canoes arrived at 
Three Rivers. Two Fathers attempted to accompany them 
on tlieir return voyage. One of them, however, only suc- 
ceeded, namely. Father Menard. The ather Father was un- 
ceremoniously set ashore at Montreal. Before starting from 
Three Rivers, Father Menard penned, in the dead hour of 
night, the following lines to a reverend friend: 

"My Rev. Father, — The Peace of Christ ! 

I write to you probably the last word and I desire it to be 
the seal of our friendship until eternity. Love him, whom 
the Lord Jesus does not disdain to love, although the greatest 
sinner; for he loves him with whom he deigns to share his 
cross. May your friendship, my good Father, be useful to 
me in the desirable fruits of your holy sacrifices. In three or 
four months you may put me in the memento of the dead, 
considering the manner of living of these people, and my age 
and weak constitution. Notwithstanding all this, I have 
felt such a powerful attraction and have seen so little of nature 
in this undertaking, that I could not doubt but that I would 
have had eternal remorse, had I missed this opportunity. 

" We were taken a little by surprise, so that we are unable 
to provide ourselves with clothing and other necessary things. 
But He who feeds the little birds and clothes the lilies of the 
fields, will take care of his servants. Should we happen to 
die of misery, that would be for us a great happiness. I am 
overwhelmed with business. All I can do is to recommend 
our voyage to your holy Sacrifices, and to embrace you with 
the same heart as I hope to do in eternity. 

My Rev. Father — Your very humble and affectionate 
servant of Jesus Christ, R. Menard. 

Three Rivers, this 27th day of August, at 2 o'clock after 
midnight, 1660."^ 

The Ottawa flotilla, and with it Father Menard, left Three 
Rivers on the 28th of August. How he fared on his voyage 
to Lake Superior is best learned from a letter which he wrote 

1. "Relation" of 1660, p. 30. 



16 

from Keweenaw Bay, Mich., to his superior in Quebec, a few 
months before his death in the wild woods of Wisconsin. He 
writes as follows:^ 

" Our journey has been a happy one for our Frenchmen, 
who all arrived in good health, about the middle of October, 
not, however, without having suffered much and run great 
risks from high seas on the lakes; from rapids and cataracts 
frightful to behold, which we had to pass over on a frail piece 
of bark; from starvation, our almost constant companion, 
and from the Iroquois arms that were turned against us. Be- 
tween Three Rivers and Montreal we happily met his Lord- 
ship, the Bishop of Petrea (Laval, first Bishop of Quebec), 
who spoke words to me which deeply entered my heart and 
will be a subject of consolation to me in any adverse accidents 
that may befall me. 'Father,' he said, 'every consideration 
seems to demand your staying here; but God, who is stronger 
than all, wants you in those parts.' ! how I blessed God 
since that meeting, and how sweetly have those words, spoken 
by so holy a prelate, come home to me in the worst of my 
sufferings, misery and abandonment ! God wants me in 
those parts ! How often have I revolved those words in my 
mind amidst the torrent's roar and in the solitude of our 
great forests ! 

" The Indians, who granted me a j)assage, with the assur- 
ance of fair treatment, considering my age (he was then fifty- 
six years old) and infirmities, have after all not spared me. 
They required me to carry on my shoulders very heavy packs 
every time, or nearly so, when we had to make a portage, 
and although my paddle, wielded by hands as feeble as mine, 
did but little service towards hastening the journey, they 
would not allow it to be idle" (They did not even allow him 
time to say his office and threw his breviary into the water; 
luckily he found another copy, stowed away at his sudden 
departure in one of the packages. Perhaps they shared the 
superstitious fear of the pagan Hurons, who considered the 
mysterious procedure of passing the eyes over curiously 
dotted paper as a mighfy charm for their destruction.) 

The Father continues: " Once they obliged me to disem- 
bark on a very bad spot. To overtake them I had to make 
my way over frightful rocks and precipices. So much was 

1. "Relation" of 1664, p. 3. 



17 

the country intersected with ravines and so steep were the 
mountains, that I thought I should never extricate myself. 
Hastening my steps, for fear of being left behind, I hurt my 
foot and leg. They remained swollen and annoyed me very 
much for the rest of the journey, especially when the water 
commenced to become cold, we being obliged to remain bare- 
foot and ready to jump into the water, in order to lighten 
the canoe, whenever they judged it proper. Add to this, 
that those people observe no regularity in their meals, eating 
everything at once and making no provision for the morrow. 
As for their camping, no attention is paid to their own or 
their guest's comfort, but only to the security of the canoes 
and to the facility for embarkment and disembarkment. As 
for rest, they generally sleep on uneven, rocky ground, 
on which they spread a few branches, if at hand. 

" We have everyone of us kept fast, and that a rigorous one, 
having to content ourselves with small fruits, which are ot 
rare occurrence, and such as nowhere else are eaten. Happy 
those who find a certain kind of moss (tripe de ruche) which 
grows on rocks and of which they make a black broth. As 
for moose-skins, those who had some left, ate them stealthily. 
Everything seems palatable, when a person is hungry. 

" But the worst was to come. Having after such hard- 
ships entered Lake Superior, there, in place of finding the 
promised rest and provisions, our canoe was smashed by a 
falling tree and that so coujpletely, that no hope of repairing 
it was left. Everyone abandoned us and we were left — three 
Indians and myself — without food and canoe. In that state 
we remainid six days, living on filthy offal, which, to keep ofi" 
starvation, we had to scratch up with our nails around an 
old abandoned lodge. To make soup we pounded the bones 
that lay about. We picked up earth saturated with the 
blood of animals that had been killed there ; in a word, we 
made food of everything. One of us was continually on the 
lookout at the shore, to implore the mercy of those that 
passed by, and we wrested from them a few slices of dried 
meat, which saved us from death. At last some, more com- 
passionate, took us up and brought us to our rallying point, 
destined for our wintering. This is a large bay^ on the south 
shore of Lake Superior (Keweenaw Bay), where I arrived on 

1. See "Hist, and biog-. notes" for a short dissertation on St. Theresa Bay 
and the site of Father Menard's mission. 



18 

St. Theresa's day (Oct. 15th, 1660) and here I had the con- 
solation of saying Mass, which repaid me with usury for all 
my past hardships. Here also I opened a "flying church" 
of Christian Indians, occasional visitors from the neighbor- 
hood of our French settlements (on the St. Lawrence) and of 
such others as the mercy of God has gathered in from this, 
place." 



CHAPTER II. 



Fatheh Menard's Labors at St. Theresa Bay. 

The Father writes: ^" One of my first visits was to a miser- 
able hut under a large rotten tree, which served it as a shelter 
on the one side and as a support to some spruce branches to 
keep off the wind. I entered on the other side, crawling on 
my belly, and found there a treasure: it was a woman aban- 
doned by her husband and daughter, who had left to her two 
little children in a dying condition; one of them was about 
two years old, the other three. I spoke to this poor, afflicted 
creature, and she listened to me with pleasure. "My brother,"' 
said she to me, " I know well enough that my people disap- 
prove of your discourses, but, as for me, I relish them very 
much; what you tell me is full of consolation." Then she 
drew forth from under the tree a piece of dried fish, which 
she took, so to say, from her own mouth to pay me for my 
visit. I thanked her and made use of this favorable occasion 
to assure myself of the salvation of those two children by 
conferring on them holy Baptism. 

" Some time after I returned to this good creature and 
found her full of determination to serve God, and, in fact, 
from that day she began to come to prayers night and morning 
and that so steadily that she did not fail even once, no mat- 
ter what work or occupation she might have on hand to 
make her living. The younger of the two children did not 
delay long to give to heaven the first fruits of this mission, 
having gone there after practicing, child as he was, some ex- 
ercise of Christianity during the short time that he outlived 
his Baptism; for, having noticed that his grandmother prayed 

1, "Relation" of 1664, p. 3 et seg. 



19 

to God before eating, he began himself to put his little hand' 
to his forehead to make the sign of the cross before eating 
and drinkipg, which practice he kept up until the last, a very- 
rare thing for an Indian child not yet two years old. 

*' The second person who seems to have been predestined 
for Paradise, is a young man of about thirty years, who was 
a subject of wonder to our Indians since a long time by 
reason of a resoluteness unknown among them, which made 
him resist all temptations of the spirit of impurity which 
are here as frequent as anywhere else in the world. He- 
spoke to me several times during our voyage, and showed a- 
great desire to become a Christian. But when I learned 
that he was not married, I persuaded myself that he was 
more deeply plunged in sin than those who are married. I 
found out here that he had always conducted himself very 
properly and that no one had ever been able to draw out of 
his mouth a single impure word. He was one of the first 
who came to find me as soon as I had withdrawn to a little 
hermitage, a poor cabin made of fir-tree branches laid upon 
one another, not so much to defend me from the rigors of 
the season as to set my imagination aright and to make me 
believe that I was under cover. This young man having 
entered there, I asked him, after several pleasant conversations, 
how it was that he was not married, and whether he meant 
in real earnest to remain in that state. " My Father," said 
he, T '^m resolved not to live after the way of our people, 
nor to unite myself to a woman, who abandons herself to 
vice as all others of this country do. If I do not find an in- 
nocent and chaste woman, I will never take any, and I am 
satisfied to remain with my brother for the rest of my life. 
For the rest, if you should notice that I act otherwise than I 
am telling you, you may exclude me from prayer " (from 
becoming a Christian). This firm resoluteness, joined with 
the urgent request he made to be admitted among the- 
Christians, obliged me to grant him holy Baptism, at which 
I gave him the name of Louis. Afterwards I have noticed 
that God has taken possession of his heart, as he showed on 
all occasions. Once this winter a very impure feast was got 
up by order of the medicine-men, in order to banish a 
desperate sickness. Louis was begged and most pressingly 
urged to be present, to fill the number appointed for that in- 
famous ceremony. He refused, and as all his relatives urged 



20 

him and quarreled with him to prevail on him to go there, 
he arose, and going out of one door of the wigwam, he re- 
mained somewhere for a time to pray, then entering again 
by another door, he was made the laughing stock ot all and 
incurred the indignation of his relatives. As he is v.nique in 
his way of living, he has to put up with a thousand little 
af!ronts from all quarters, to which, thanks be to God, he 
has already grown accustomed, repaying with a smile all the 
railleries heaped upon him, without shrinking or relaxing in 
a single point from the duties of a good Christian. Bar- 
barism here has never witnessed courage of such a stamp. 

"The third chosen soul found is the eldest sister of our 
Louis: a poor widow burdened with five children, a peace- 
able woman, busy all day long with her household affairs. 
She biought to me the oldest of her children, a girl sixteen 
years of age, to be instructed in order, as she said, that God 
might have compassion on her daughter and restore her to 
health, which she had lost since some months. The child 
had a continual cough, which choked her voice and de- 
prived her of speech. I made her pray to God, and then 
had her bled, which rfstored her voice. After this the 
mother came to offer me all her children for instruction, 
God disposing all for the salvation of his elect. I put their 
piety to a good trial, and finding them resolute and well pre- 
pared for Baptism. I conferred it at the same time upon the 
motlier and her children, who henceforth are very grateful to 
God for the grace which they have received, and they have 
beim very good to me, having contributed a great deal 
towards my support by their charitable donations. 

" The fourth whom God has given me, is a poor, old man, 
who was extremely sick at Three Rivers last year, and whom 
I could not get to talk to on account of the medicine-men, 
who were continually about him. This good man, in regard 
to whom God has his designs, was not then yet ripe for 
heaven. The misfortune that happened to him on his 
voyage has humbled him very much, for a squall of wind 
having overtaken him on Lake Superior, in saving his life, 
he lost all he had collected at Three Rivers. As old age and 
poverty are in great contempt with the Indians, he saw him- 
self obliged to withdraw to our cabin, where, at first having 
rallied at our mysteries, God inspii'ed me so well when re- 
buking his audacity and speaking to his heart that, giving 



21 

place to grace and the Holy Grhost, he came to see me the 
next day, in order to ask to be allowed to pray to God (to 
become a Christian) Since then he has practiced prayer so 
openly, fervently and resolutely, that I could not refuse him 
holy Baptism. He continues to render himself worthy of 
this favor, making public profession before his countrymen, 
who are all pagans, of being a disciple of Jesus Christ. 

"As to the other Christians who compose this church, they 
are few in number, but chosen, and they give me much satis- 
faction. I did not like to admit a great number, contenting 
myself with such as I judged would persevere in the faith 
during my absence ; for I do not know what will become of 
me, nor to which side I will go. However, I should have to 
do great violence to myself if I had to come down from the 
cross which God has prepared for me in this extremity of the 
world in my old days. Not a single pulsation of my heart is 
for returning to Three Rivers. I do not know of what nature 
are the nails, which hold me attached to this holy wood ; but 
the mere thought that anybody should come to detach me 
from it makes me shudder, and very often I start up out of my 
sleep with the thought that there is no Outaouak for me and 
that my sins put me back to the same place, whence the mercy 
of my God has drawn me by a singular favor. I can say with 
truth that i have more consolation here in one day, notwith- 
standing hunger, cold, and other almost inexplicable hard- 
ships, than I have had in alf my life, whatever place in the 
world I have been. T have often heard Father DanieP and 
Father Charles Gamier say that the more they saw themselves 
abandoned and deprived of human consolations, the more 
God took possession of their heart and made them experience 
how much His holy grace is superior to all imaginable sweet- 
ness found among creatures. The consolation which it pleased 
God to give me here has caused me to avow this secret and 
made me value the good there is in finding myself here alone 
among our savages, five hundred leagues from our French 
settlements." 

These are the last words with which the Father concludes 
his (two) letters, which he thus dates: 'Among the Outaouak 
at St. Theresa Bay, one hundred leagues above the Sault, in 

1. See " Hist, and Biog. Notes" for a description of, the glorious martyr- 
.dom of both these Fathers. 



22 

Lake Superior, the 1st day of March, and the second of July, 
1661.' 

Whilst sojourning at St. Theresa (Keweenaw Bay) he heard 
the Indians frequently converse about four powerful tribes, 
living at a distance of two or three hundred leagues. They 
probably meant the Sioux, who are divided into several 
branches, possibly also the Illinois to the south. The country 
to be traveled is described as "an almost continual series of 
swamps, in which soundings had to be taken, lest one might 
get himself inextricably engulfed. Moreover, a full supply 
of provisions had to be carried along, for the traveler, winding 
his way through dense swarms of mosquitoes, could not find 
anywhere in those dismal regions means of living," 

Towards those distant pagan tribes the heart of the mis- 
sionary was yearning, and however doubtful the prospect of 
reaching them appeared, he already began to lay aside, what- 
, ever he could spare of his scant}' fare. 

" It is my hope," so he writes himself, " to die on the way. 
But, having pushed so far, and being full of health, I shall 
do what is possible to reach them. I hope I shall be able to 
throw myself among some Indians, who intend to make that 
journey. God will dispose of us according to his good pleas- 
ure for his greater glory, either for death or life. It will be a 
great mercy on the part of our loving God, if He calls me to 
Himself in so good a place." With these prophetic words 
Father Menard concludes his last letter, dated from St. The- 
resa Bay, July 2d, 1661. 

In the next chapter we shall give the account of his suffer- 
ings and labors at said bay, and of his last journey to the 
headwaters of Black River in Wisconsin, where he ended his 
apostolic career, either by starvation, or what is very prob- 
, able, by the tomahawk of some roving Indian. 

The reader will excuse us for making here a slight digres- 
, sion. It is stated above that in August, 1660, an Ottawa flotilla 
of sixty canoes with 300 men arrived at Three Rivers. This 
flotilla was conducted by two adventurous Frenchmen,^ in all 
probability, the first white men who navigated Lake Superior, and 
PERHAPS also the first, who gazed on the limpid waters oj' the Upper 
Mississippi. 

1 See "Hisioi-ical and Biographical Notes" for a detailed account of these 
two men's sojourn on the shores of Lalje Superior, and their travels among 
the Indian tribes of Wisconsin and Minnesota. 



23 

Jerome Lallemant, then Superior of the Jesuits in Canada 
and author of the " Relation" of 1660, writes as follows : 

" Hardly at home in Quebec (from Tadoussac) I found two 
Frenchmen just arrived Irom those upper countries with three 
hundred Algonquins, in sixty canoes laden with furs This 
is what they have seen with their own eyes, and what affords 
nis an idea of the state of the western Algonquins, having thus 
]far spoken of those in the north. 

" They have spent the winter on the shores of Lake Supe- 
:rior, and were happy enough to baptize two hundred Jittle 
.children of the Algonquin tribe, where they were first living. 
'Those children suffered from disease and starvation ; forty of 
-them have gone straight to heaven, as they died shortly after 
Baptism. 

" In the course of the winter our two Frenchmen made 
several excursions among the neighboring nations. Among 
other things they found, at six days' journey from Lake 
Superior towards the south-west, a people composed of the 
remnants of the Petuns, a Huron tribe, who had been forced 
by the Iroquois to leave their home and penetrate so far into 
the woods that they could not be discovered by their 
enemies. These poor people, wandering on their flight 
through great and unknown forests, over mountains and 
rocks, happily struck a fine river, great, broad, deep, and 
comparable, they say, to our great St. Lawrence (the Missis- 
sippi). Up the shores of that river they found the great 
nation of the Abimiwec (a misprint for Aliniouek, Illinois) 
who received them well. This nation is composed of sixty 
towns, which confirms the knowledge we already had of 
thousands of people that fill those westerly countries. 

" But to return to our Frenchmen. Proceeding on their 

roundabout maich, they were much surprised when, on 

visiting the Nad wechiwea (Nadouessioux, Sioux),, they saw 

vwomen disfigured by having their nose cut oft as far as the 

bridge, so that in this part of the face they resembled a 

. death's head. Besides, on the top of their head a round 

piece of scalp was torn off. Having asked for the reason of 

such bad treatment, they learned, with wonder, it was the 

law of the country that inflicted this penalty on all adulterous 

wives, in order that they might bear the punishment and 

,. shame of their sin on their very countenance. 

" Our Frenchmen visited the forty towns, which form that 



24 

nation, in five of which they counted as many as 5,000 men. 
But we must take leave of this people, though quite un- 
ceremoniously, in order to enter upon the grounds ot another 
warlike nation, which, with its bows and arrows, has made 
itself as formidable among the Upper Algonquins as the 
Iroquois are among the Lower, whence they are called 
Bwalak\ that is: warriors. As timber is scarce and of small 
growth in their country, nature has informed them how to 
make fire with mineral coal and to cover their huts. Some, 
more industrious, make themselves dwellings of clay, in a 
manner as swallows build their nests ; and beneath those 
hides and under that mud they would sleep as quietly as the 
great ones of the world under their golden ceilings, was it 
not for the fear of the Iroquois, who, in search of them, 
travel over a distance of 500 and 600 leagues." 



CHAPTER III. 

Continuation of Father Menard's Labors and Sufferings 
AT St. Theresa Bay; His Death at the Headwaters 
of Black River. 

We shall give the particulars of Father Menard's journey 
to the Hurons, on Black River, Wisconsin, and his death, as 
we find them in the " Relation " of 1663. 

"We are going to behold a poor missionary, worn out by 
apostolic labors, in which his hairs have grown white, loaded 
with years and infirmities, exhausted by a rough and painful 
journey, horrible-looking from sweat and blood, dying en- 
tirely alone in the depths of the forests, five hundred leagues 
from Quebec, abandoned as a prey to carnivorous animals, to 
starvation and all miseries, and who, according to his wishes 
and even according to his prophecy, imitates in his death the 
abandonment of St. Francis Xavier, whose zeal he has per- 
fectly imitated during life. We mean Father Menard, who 
for more than twenty years has labored in these rough mis- 
sions, where finally, having got lost in the woods whilst run- 
ning after the lost sheep, he has happily ended his apostolate 
by the loss of his strength, health, and life. It was not the 

1. "Relation" of 1660, pp. 13, 13. 



25 

will of Heaven that any one of us should receive his last 
sighs; it is only the forest that are the depositaries thereof, or 
some cavity in a rock, into which, perhaps, he betook him- 
self; these are the only witnesses of the last outpourings of 
love, which this heart all inflamed sent forth to Heaven with 
his soul, at a time wh^^n he was actually running to the con- 
quest of souls. 

This is the little we have learned concerning his death, 
from a letter from Montreal, under date of the 26th of July, 
1663. "Yesterday the good God brought us thirty-five 
canoes of Outaouak, with whom seven of the nine Frenchmen 
returned. The other two, who are Father Rene Menard and 
his faithful companion, Jean Guerin, have gone elsewhere to 
meet sooner than the others at the sure harbor of our com- 
mon fatherland. It is two years since the Father died and 
six months or thereabouts, since the death of Jean Guerin." 

The poor Father and the eight Frenchmen, his companions, 
started from Three Rivers, on the 28th of August, 1660, with 
the Outaouak. They arrived in the Outaouak country on 
the 15th of October, day of St. Theresa. On their way they 
sufifered inexplicable hardships, bad treatment from the 
Indian boatmen, inhuman wretches, and an extreme want of 
all things to live on, so much so that the Father could scarcely 
stand up, being moreover of a feeble constitution and broken 
down by hardships. But, as a person may yet go very far 
after being tired, so he had sufficient strength to get to the 
wigwams of his hosts. One named LeBrochet, chief of that 
family, a proud and very wicked man, who had four or five 
wives, treated the Father very badly. Finally, he obliged 
him to leave him and to make for himself a hut of fir-tree 
branches. God! what a dwelling during the rigors of win- 
ter, which are almost insupportable in those countries. The 
nourishment was not any better. Most of the time their 
whole repast consisted of a small fish boiled in mere water, 
and that had to suffice for four or five at a time. Moreover, 
this puny fish itself was an alms, which the Indians gave to 
some one among them who waited on the beach for the 
return of the (Indian) fishermen's canoes, the same as poor 
beggars await alms at a church-door. A certain moss, which 
grows on rocks, often served them to make a good meal! 
They would put a handful of this moss into their kettle, 
which would thicken the water a little, forming thereon a 



26 

kind of scum or foam, like that of snails, which nourished 
more their imagination than their body ! The remains of 
fish (head, entrails), which are carefully preserved whilst fish 
are found in abundance, served also when hard up to tease 
their hunger. Even pulverized bones these starving men would 
utilize for nourishment. Many kinds of wood furnished 
them with food. The bark of oak, birch, white-wood and of 
other trees were boiled and pulverized and then put into the 
water in which a fish had been boiled, or they were mixed 
with fish-oil, and this served as an excellent ragout ! They 
ate acorns with more relish and pleasure than people in 
Europe eat chestnuts, and yet they did not get their fill. In 
this manner they struggled through the first winter. As to 
the spring and summer, they got along better, on account of 
a little game they hunted. They killed, from time to time, 
some ducks, wild geese or pigeons, which afforded them de- 
lightful banquets. Raspberries and other little berries served 
them as grand delicacies. Neither corn nor bread are known 
in that country. 

But if those poor Frenchmen were destitute of nearly all 
that might recreate the body, they were recompensed with 
the consolations of heavenly grace. As long as the Father 
was alive, they had holy mass every day, and they confessed 
and received holy communion every week. 

As to the death of the Father, this is what I have learned 
concerning it. During the winter, which he spent with the 
Outaouak, he started a church among those savages, a very 
small one indeed, but very precious, for it cost him much 
sweat and many tears. Hence it seemed to be composed of 
only predestined souls, the greatest part of whom were dying 
infants, whom he was obliged to baptize stealthily, for their 
parents used to conceal them when he would enter their wig- 
wams, having the old erroneous notion of the Hurons, that 
Baptism caused their death. 

Among the adults he found two old men whom grace had 
prepared for Christianity, the one by a mortal sickness, which 
robbed him of the life of the body shortly after he had 
received that of the soul. He expired after having made 
public profession of the faith and preach by his example to 
his relatives, who, by mocking him and his prayers, afforded 
him an occasion of giving proof of a very strong though 
newly rooted piety. 



27 

The other old man was enlightened by his blindness. Per- 
haps he would have never perceived the splendors of faith, 
had his eyes been opened to earthly objects. But Grod, who 
draws light from darkness and who delights to let us see, 
from time to time, traces of His Providence, arranged every- 
thing so well for this poor, blind man, that the Father came 
just in time to enlighten him and to open heaven to him 
when apparently he had already one foot in hell. He died 
some time after Baptism, blessing God for the graces He had 
bestowed upon him at the end of his days, which he had so 
little merited during the long course of his life, having almost 
attained his hundredth year. 

There were also some women who added to this solitary 
church. Among them was a widow, who in baptism re- 
ceived the name of Ann, and who was looked upon as a saint 
by those people, although they do not know what sanctity is. 
Since the Father prepared her for the most Holy Sacrament 
of the Altar, she no longer knows what a barbarous life is, 
though living among a lot of barbarians. She says her 
prayers all alone on her knees, whilst all the family are 
carrying on improper discourse. She continues in this holy 
exercise of devotion to the admiration of our Frenchmen, 
who saw her during the years following her conversion just 
as fervent as the first day. By an example hitherto un- 
known among people entirely given up to impurity, she of 
her own account has consecrated the rest of her widowhood 
to chastity and that in the midst of continual abominations, 
with which those infamous wretches boast, of incessantly 
polluting themselves. 

These are the fruits of Father Menard's labors. They are 
very trifling in appearance, but very great in reality, as it re- 
quires great courage, great zeal and a great heart to suffer 
hardships so great in going so far for apparently so little, 
though indeed, that cannot be called little which involves 
the question of saving even a soul, for which the son of God 
did not spare his sweat and blood of infinite value. 

Excepting these elect the Father found nothing but oppo- 
sition to the faith amongst the rest of those barbarians, on ac- 
count of their great brutality and infamous polygamy. The 
little hope he had of converting these people, plunged in all 
sorts of vices, made him resolve to undertake a new journey 
of one hundred leagues, in order to instruct a tribe of poor 



Hurons, whom the Iroquois had caused to fly to that end of 
the world. 

Among those Hurons there were a great many old 
Christians who asked most urgently for the Father. They 
promised that at his arrival at their place, the rest of their 
countrymen would embrace the faith. But before starting 
for that distant country, the Father begged three young 
Frenchmen of his flock to go ahead to reconnoitre. They 
were to make presents to the head men of the tribe and assure 
them on his part, that he would go and instruct them as soon 
as they would send some guides to conduct him to their 
place. 

After undergoing many hardships, the three young French- 
men arrived at the village of this poor agonizing tribe. En- 
tering their wigwams, they found but living skeletons, so 
feeble that they could scarcely stir and stand on their feet. 
Hence they did not think it advisable to give them the 
presents which they had brought along from the Father, see- 
ing no appearance of a possibility for him to go and hunt 
them up so soon, without exposing himself to die of starva- 
tion with them in a few days, as they were unable to do any- 
thing for themselves and as it was a long time yet before they 
could harvest their Indian-corn, of which they had planted 
some small patches. So they soon transacted their business 
with those poor, famished people and took leave of them, 
assuring them that the Father was not to blame for their not 
getting instructed. 

They set out on their way to return, which was a great 
deal harder, being obliged to go up the river in returning, 
whereas they had gone down stream when going to the Huron 
village. If they had not been young and fit for hardships, 
they would never have returned. A good Huron, who meant 
to accompany them, was obliged to turn back for fear of 
dying of hunger on the way. In addition to their suffer- 
ings, the canoe in which they had come was stolen from 
them. Had they not formerly learned to make canoes, a la 
Iroquois, when they were with us among that tribe, they 
would have perished. These Iroquois canoes are easily made 
of thick bark, at almost all seasons of the year. Having, 
therefore, finished a canoe in one day, they embarked to- 
wards the end of May (1661). Some turtles, which they 
found on the shores of lakes and rivers, with some pickerel 



29 

which they caught with a fishing-line, served them for 
nourishment during the fifteen days it took them to return 
to the place whence they had started. 

They explained to the Father how little appearance of hope 
there was that a poor, old, decrepit, feeble man, like him, 
destitute of provisions as he was, should undertake such a 
voyage. But they might well parade before his eyes the 
difficulties of the way, by land and by water, the number of 
rapids and waterfalls, the long portages, the precipices to be 
passed, the rocks over which one must drag himself, the dry 
and sterile lands where nothing could be found to eat; all 
this did not frighten him; he had but one answer to give to 
these good children of his: "God calls me, I must go there, 
should it even cost my life. St. Francis Xavier, said he to 
them, who seemed so necessary to the world for the conver- 
sion of souls, died well in trying to enter China. And I, 
who am good for nothing, should I, for fear of dying on the 
way, refuse to obey the voice of my God, who calls me to 
the succor of poor christians and catechumens deprived of a 
pastor since so long a time ? No, no, I do not want to let 
souls perish, under pretext of preserving the bodily life of a 
puny man, such as I am. What! must God be served and 
our neighbor helped only then when there is nothing to 
suffer and no risk of one's life ? This is the most beautiful 
occasion to show to angels and men that I love my Creator 
more than the life I have from Him, and would you wish me 
to let it escape ? Would we ever have been redeemed had 
not our dear Master preferred to sacrifice His life in obedience 
to His Father for our salvation?" 

Thus the resolution was taken to go and seek those lost 
sheep. Some Hurons, who had come to traffic with the Outa- 
ouak, offered themselves to the Father to act as guides. He 
felt happy at meeting with them. He gave them some lug- 
gage to carry and chose one of the Frenchmen to accompany 
him. All the provisions he took along were a bag of dried 
sturgeon and a little smoked meat, which he had long ago 
saved for this intended journey. 

His last adieu to the other Frenchmen whom he was leav- 
ing, was in these prophetic words: "Adieu, my dear children," 
said he, embracing them tenderly, " I bid you the great adieu 
for this world, for you will not see me again. I pray the 
Divine Goodness, that we may be reunited in heaven." 



30 

So he set out on his journey the 13th of July, 1661, mne 
months after his arrival in the Outaouak country. But the 
poor Hurons though they had little to carry, soon lost cour- 
age, their strength failed through want of nourishment. They 
abandoned the Father, telling him they were going in haste 
to their village to inform the headmen that he was on the 
way coming, and thus induce them to send some strong young 
men to get him. About fifteen days the Father stopped near 
a lake expecting help. As provisions were failing, he deter- 
mined to betake himself on the way with his (French) com- 
panion, having a small canoe, which he had found in the 
brush. 

They embarked with their little baggage. Alas ! who could 
describe the hardships which that poor, extenuated body of 
his endured, during the course of that voyage, from hunger, 
heat, fatigue, and at the portages, where he was obliged to 
shoulder both canoe and" packs, without having any other 
consolation than that of every day celebrating holy Mass. 

Finally, about the 10th of August, the poor Father, whilst 
following his companion, went astray, mistaking some trees 
or rocks for others. At the end of a portage, made in order 
to get by a rather difficult cataract, or rapids, his companion 
looked back to see whether he could descry the Father com- 
ing. He seeks for him, calls him, shoots ofl his gun as many 
as live times, to bring him back to the right way, but all in 
vain. This made him determine to go as quickly as possible 
to the Huron village, which he judged to be near by, in order 
to hire help, at whatever cost it might be, to go and search 
for the Father. But unluckily he himself lost his way and 
went beyond the village without noticing it. He had better 
luck, however, when getting lost, for he met an Indian who ' 
led him back and brought him to the village ; but he did not 
arrive there till two days after the Father had gone astray. 
And then, what can a poor man do, who does not know a 
single word of the Huron language ? Still, as charity and 
necessity are eloquent enough, he gave them to understand 
by his gestures and tears, that the Father had lost his way. 
He promised a young man various French articles to prevail 
upon him to go and search for the Father. At first he made 
a show of being willing to do so, and actually started. 
Scarcely was he gone two hours, however, when he returned, 
shouting, '' To arms ! to arms ! I am just after meeting with 



31 

the enemy !" At this uproar the compassion they had con- 
ceived for the Father vanished and, with it, the will to go 
and seek for him. 

And thus behold the priest left, abandoned — but in the 
hands of divine providence. God, no doubt, gave him the 
courage to suffer with constancy, in that extremity, the depri- 
vation of all human succour when tormented by the stings of 
mosquitoes, which are exceedingly numerous in those parts, 
and so intolerable, that the three Frenchmen who had made 
the voyage (to the Huron village) declare that there was no 
other way of protecting themselves from their bites than to 
run incessantly, and it was even necessary that two of them 
should chase away those little beasts, whilst the third was 
taking a drink. Thus the poor Father, stretched o\it on the 
ground or on some rock, remained exposed to their stings 
and endured this cruel torment as long as life held out. 
Hunger and other miseries completed his sufferings and 
caused this happy soul to leave its body, in order to go and 
enjoy the fruit of so many hardships endured for the con- 
version of savages. 

As to his body, the Frenchman, who accompanied him, 
did all he could with the Indians to get them to go and search 
for it, but in vain. Neither the precise time nor the day of 
his death can be ascertained. The companion of his voyage 
thinks he died about the day of the Assumption of the 
Blessed Virgin (Aug. 15th, 1661), for he says the Father still 
had a piece of smoked meat about the size of a man's hand, 
which might have been able to sustain him for two or 
three days. Some time afterwards an Indian found the 
Father's bag, but he would not admit that he found 
his body, for fear he might be accused of having killed 
him, which is probably but too true, since those savages do 
not hesitate to cut a man's throat when they meet him alone 
in the woods, in hopes of capturing some booty. As a mat- 
ter of fact, moreover, some articles belonging to his vestment- 
box were seen in a certain wigwam.^ 

Father Menard has the immortal glory of being the first 
priest that ever said Mass on Wisconsin soil, between the 1st 
and 10th of August, 1661.^ 

1. "Relation" of 1663, pp. 17-22. 

3. See "Hist, and biog:. notes" on the locality, where Father Menard per- 
ished. 



32 
CHAPTER IV. 



Great Earthquake in Canada and its Prodigious Effects/ 

" On the 5th of February, 1663, at half past five in the 
evening, a great roaring noise was heard at the same time 
throughout the whole extent of Canada. This noise, which 
sounded as if fire had broken out, made everybody run out of 
doors to escape such an unexpected conflagration. But, in- 
stead of seeing smoke and flames, all were much surprised to 
see the walls of their houses rocking and the stones stirring, 
as if they had become detached. Roofs appeared to bend 
down on one side and then on the other; bells rang of them- 
selves; beams, rafters and boards cracked; the earth bounded, 
causing the stakes of the palisades to dance in a manner that 
would appear incredible, had we not seen it ourselves in 
several places. 

Everybody ran out of doors, animals fled,' children were 
crying in the streets, men and women, seized with terror, 
knew not whither to flee for refuge, imagining every moment 
they would be buried under the ruin of their houses, or in- 
gulfed in some abyss that was opening under their feet. Some, 
casting themselves on their knees in the snow, cried for 
mercy, others passed the rest of the night in prayer — for the 
earthquake continued with a certain motion like that of a 
ship at sea, so much so, that some felt a rising in their 
stomach as if they were sea-sick. The tumult was still far 
greater in the forests. It seemed as if the trees were at war, 
striking against each other. Not only their branches, but 
even, one would have said, their trunks detached themselves 
from their places, to jump upon one another with a fracas 
and a tumbling-over that made the Indians say the woods 
were drunk. 

Even the mountains seemed to be at war with one another. 
Some of them detached themselves from their base and threw 
themselves upon the others, leaving a vast abyss at the place 
in which they had previously stood. At times they would 
sink the trees with which they were covered, deep into the 
ground up to their tops; others again they would bury, 
branches downward, which then occupied the former place 

1. "Relation" of 1663, pp. 3-5. See uole on earthquake. 



33 

of the roots; thus they left nothing but a forest of trunks over- 
turned. 

Whilst this general subversion was being enacted on the 
land, the ice (on the river St. Lawrence) which was from five 
to six feet thick, broke up, going to pieces. In several places 
openings were made in the ice and thick fumes of smoke rose 
on high, or jets of mud and sand shot up high into the air; 
our springs ceased to run or had but water impregnated with 
sulphur; rivers disappeared or became wholly putrid, the 
water of some of them became yellow, others red. Our great 
river St. Lawrence looked altogether whitish as far as towards 
Tadoussac, a very astonishing prodigy to those who know 
what a great quantity of water this great river has below the 
island of Orleans and, consequently, how much matter it must 
take to whiten it. 

The air was no more exempt from alterations than the 
waters and the land, for, besides the crackling noise that al- 
ways preceded and accompanied the earthquake, fiery 
spectres and phantoms were seen carrying torches in their 
hands. Pikes and lances of fire were seen flying through the 
air and lighted fire-brands gliding over the houses, without 
doing any other harm than causing great fright wherever they 
appeared. People even heard plaintive and languishing 
voices lamenting, as it were, during the stillness of the night, 
and, what is very rare, sea-hogs uttering loud cries in front 
of Three Rivers, making the air resound with their pitiable 
bellowing, be it that they were real sea-hogs, or, as some 
think, sea-cows. A thing so extraordinary could not pro- 
ceed from an ordinary cause. 

They write from Montreal, that during the earthquake the 
palisades or stakes of enclosures were seen to jump, as if 
they were dancing. Of two doors of one and the same room, 
the one closed and the other opened of itself. Chimneys and 
house-tops bent like the branches of a tree agitated by the 
wind. When a person lifted up his foot to walk, he felt the 
ground following it, raising itself just as the foot was raised 
and sometimes striking against the sole of the foot rather 
roughly. They mention other things of the same kind very 
astonishing. 

This is what they write from Three Rivers: The first shock 
and the most violent of all, commenced with a roaring noise 
like thunder. The houses had the same motion that the tops 



34 

of trees have during a storm, accompanied with a peculiar 
noise, which made people think that fire was crackling in the 
loft overhead. 

The first shock lasted fully half an hour, though its greatest 
force held out, properly speaking, scarcely a quarter of an 
hour. Everyone imagined that the earth was about to open. 
For the rest, we have noticed that though this earthquake is, 
so to say, incessant, it is not equally great at all times. Some- 
times it resembles the motion of a large vessel riding gently 
at anchor, which motion produces a certain dizziness of head; 
at other times the motion is irregular and precipitated by 
several sudden jerks, sometimes very violent, then again more 
moderate. The most ordinary motion consists of a slight 
trembling, which makes itself felt when no noise is heard and 
one is reposing. 

According to the report of several of our French and Indian 
eye-witnesses, far up our river — " Three Rivers" — five or six 
leagues from here, both sides, which were of a prodigious 
height, have been levelled, being lifted from their base and 
upset, so as to be on a level with the water. Both those 
mountains with all their forests have been toppled over into 
the bed of the river and formed there a mighty dam, which 
obliged the river to change its bed and to overflow large 
flats, newly formed, carrying along in its course all this 
crumbled earth and mingling it, little by little, with the 
waters of the river, which are still on that account so thick 
and rily, that they cause all the water of the great St. Law- 
rence to change color. Judge how much soil it must take 
every day to continue for almost three months to redden 
the water, which is always full of mud. 

New lakes are seen where there were none before. Cer- 
tain mountains are no longer visible, as they have been swal- 
lowed up. Several water-falls have been leveled, and some 
rivers have disappeared. The earth has split in many places 
and opened precipices, the bottom of which cannot be found. 
Finally, there is such confusion of woods overturned and en- 
gulfed, that a person can see at present fields of more than a 
thousand arpents all razed and looking as if they had been lately 
ploughed, where shortly before there was nothing but forests. 

We are informed from the direction of Tadoussac, that the 
force of the earthquake there was no less violent than elsewhere; 
that a rain of ashes was seen, which crossed over the river as 



35 

a great storm would have done, and that, wpre a person to 
traverse that part ot the country from Cape Tourmente till 
there, he' would see prodigious effects of the earthquake. 
Towards the Bay, called St. Paul, there was a small mountain 
situated near the river-bank, a quarter of a league or there- 
about in circumference. This mountain was swallowed up 
and, as if it had only made a plunge, it came up again from 
the bottom of the water, to change itself into an islet and to 
make a place that heretofore had been quite surrounded by 
cliffs, a safe harbor against all kinds of wind. Farther down, 
towards Pointe-aux-Alouettes, an entire forest had detached 
itself from the mainland and slided into the river, exhibiting 
the spectacle of large, green trees, which have started to grow 
in the water. 

For the rest, three circumstances have rendered this earth- 
quake very remarkable. First, the time it lasted , for it con- 
tinued till the month of August, that is to say, more than six 
months. The shocks, it is true, were not always equally 
violent. In some localities, towards the mountains back of 
us, the scintillation and trembling were continual for a long 
time. In other places, for instance, towards Tadoussac, the 
shocks occurred generally twice or three times a day, with 
violent jerks. We have remarked that on high ground the 
agitation was less than on the low lands. 

The second circumstance regards the extent of this earth- 
quake, which we believe to have been all over New France, 
for we learn that it made itself felt from Isle Percee and Gas- 
pee, which are situated at the mouth of our river (St. Law- 
rence) till beyond Montreal, as also in New England, Acadia 
and other far distant localities, so that, to our knowledge, the 
earthquake having occurred throughout a territory of two 
hundred leagues in length and one hundred in width, there 
were twenty thousand leagues of country, which shook all at 
the same time, on the same day and at the same moment. 

The third circumstance in regard to this earthquake is the 
particular protection of God over our habitations ; for we see 
near us great openings (in the earth) that have been made 
and a prodigious extent of country entirely lost, without our 
losing a child or even a hair of our heads. We see ourselves 
surrounded with subversion and ruin, and, at the same time, 
have had only some chimneys demolished, whilst mountains 
around us have been swallowed up. 



36 

Narrative of the Mission of the Holy Ghost 
among the Outaouacs at Lake Tracy, 
formerly called Lake Superior.'" 



CHAPTER V. 



Journal of the Voyage of Father Claude Allouez to 
THE Land of the Outaouacs." (Ottawas).^ 

" It is two years and more since Father Claude Allouez 
started this large and laborious mission, for which he traveled 
in the whole of his voyage nearly two thousand leagues 
through those vast forests, suffering hunger, nakedness, ship- 
wrecks, fatigues day and night, and the persecutions of the 
idolaters. But he had also the consolation of carrying the 
torch of faith to more than twenty different pagan tribes. 

We can obtain n® better knowledge of the fruits of his 
labors than that which we gather from the journal he was 
obliged to write. 

The narration will be diversified by the description of the 
places and lakes through which he traveled, the customs and 
superstitions of the tribes he visited and various extra- 
ordinary incidents deserving mention. 

" On the eighth of August, of the year 1665, I embarked 
at Three Rivers with six Frenchmen, in company with more 
than four hundred Indians of different tribes, who were re- 
turning to their country, having got through with the little 
traffic for which they had come. 

The devil formed all opposition imaginable to our voyage, 
making use of the false prejudice these Indians have, namely, 
that Baptism caiijses death to their children.^ One of their 
leading men declared to me his will and that of his people, 
in arrogant terms and with threats of abandoning me on some 

1. "Relation" of 1667, pp. 4-34. 

3. Pronounced Oo-tab-wauk. 

3. As the early Jesuit Fathers realized the absolute necessity of Baptism 
for salvation, they most eag-erly soug-ht to confer that Sacrament upon the 
dying- children of Fag-an parents. Seeing- that their children generally died 
after Baptism, the natives in their ig-norance and superstition attributed their 
death to Baptism, which they reg-arded as an evil charm for the destruction 
of their offspring. 



37 

desolate island, if I dared to follow them any further. We 
had then advanced to the River Desprairies,^ when the canoe 
which had carried me, having been broken, made me appre- 
hend the misfortune with which they threatened me. We 
worked promptly at repairing our little boat, and, although 
the Indians did not put themselves to any trouble, neither 
to help us nor to wait for us, we used diligence so great that 
we caught up to them at the Long-Sault, two or three days 
after our departure. 

But our canoe, after having once been broken, could not 
long be of use to us, and our Frenchmen, who were very tired, 
already despaired of being able to keep up with the Indians, 
all accustomed to these great labors. This made me take 
the resolution of assembling them all, in order to persuade 
them to receive us separately into their canoes, showing them 
ours in so bad a condition, that it would hereafter be useless 
to us. They consented, and the Hurons promised, though 
with great reluctance, to take me aboard. 

The next day, therefore, having betaken myself to the 
edge of the water, they gave me a good reception at first and 
requested me to wait a moment, whilst they were preparing 
for embarking. Having waited, and then stepped into the 
water, to get into their canoe, they pushed me back, saying 
they had no place for me, and immediately they began to 
row strongly, leaving me alone without the appearance of 
any human help. I prayed to God to pardon them, but my 
prayer was not heard, for they afterwards suffered shipwreck, 
and the Divine Majesty made use of this abandonment by 
men to preserve my life. 

Seeing myself all alone, abandoned in a strange land, for 
the whole flotilla was already far away, I had recourse to the 
Blessed Virgin Mary in whose honor we had made a novena, 
which procured us from this Mother of Mercy daily, visible 
protection. Whilst I was praying I perceived, contrary to 
all hope, some canoes, in which there were three of our 
Frenchmen. I hailed them, and haAdng taken again our old 
canoe, we went to work and paddled with all our strength to 
overtake the flotilla; but we had lost sight of it since a long 
time, and we did no know where to go, it being very difficult 
to find a small turn which had to be taken to get to the por- 

1. Ottawa River, so called because a Frenchman with the name of Des 
Prairies was drowned in said river. 



38 • 

tage of Sault aux Chats (it is thus they call this place). We 
would have been lost had we missed this turn, but it pleased 
God, through the intercession of the Holy Virgin, to conduct 
us directly and almost without thinking of it, to this portage, 
where, having yet perceived but two can(5es of the Indians, I 
jumped into the water and made them (i. e. his French com- 
panions) go by land to the other side of the portage, where 
I found six canoes. ''What!" said I to them, "Is it thus 
you abandon the French ? Do you not know that I hold in 
my hands the word of Onnontio ^ and that i must speak, on 
his part, to all your nations by the presents which he has 
given me in charge?" These words obliged them to help us, 
so that we joined the main part of the flotilla about noon. 

Having disembarked, I thought it my duty in this ex- 
tremity to employ the most efficacious means for the glory 
of God. I spoke to them all and threatened them with the 
disgrace they would incur from Monsieur de Tracy, whose 
word I carried. The fear of disobliging so great an Onnontio 
induced one ot the foremost among them to act as spokes- 
man, and he harangued me strongly for a long time, in order 
to persuade me to return. The malignant spirit made use 
of the weakness of this malcontent, to preclude the passage 
of the Gospel. The rest were of no better intention, so that 
our Frenchmen, having found an easy chance to embark, no 
one was willing to take charge of me, all of them saying I 
had neither the skill to paddle nor the strength to carry 
package. 

In this abandonment, I retired into the woods and, having 
thanked God that He had made me feel of what little account 
I am, I avowed myself before His Divine Majesty but a use- 
less burden on earth. My prayer being ended, I returned to 
the edge of the water, where I found the mind of the Indian 
who had repelled me with so great contempt, entirely changed; 
for, of his own accord, he invited me to get into his canoe, 
which I did very promptly, for fear he might change his mind. 

No sooner had I embarked than he put a paddle into my 
hund, exhorting me to paddle, and telling me that was a great 
work, worthy of a chief. I willingly took the paddle and, 
offering to God this labor in satisfaction for my sins and for 
the conversion of those poor Indians, I imagined myself a male- 

1. Onnontio, the Indian name g'iven to the French Governors of Canada. 



39 

factor, condemned to the galleys, and, although I was wholly 
tired out, God gave me so much strength as was necessary to 
paddle all day and often a good part of the night. This, however, 
did not prevent my being made ordinarily the object of their 
contempt and raillery; for however hard I tried, I did noth- 
ing in comparison to them, who were large of body, robust, 
and made just for such labors. The little account they made 
of me, was the cause of their stealing my clothes from me, 
and I had great trouble to keep my hat, the rim of which 
appeared to them very good to protect themselves from the 
excessive heat of the sun. At night my pilot took a blanket 
that I had and used it for a pillow, obliging me to pass the 
night without any other covering than the foliage of some tree. 

When, in addition to these hardships hunger comes, it is a 
very severe suffering, which soon taught me to take liking to 
most bitter routs and rotten meat. It pleased God to make me 
endure the greatest hunger on Fridays, for which I most gladly 
thank Him. 

I had to innure myself to eat a certain moss which grows 
on rocks. It is a kind of leaf in the shape of a shell, which 
is always covered with caterpillars and spiders. When boiled, 
it makes an insipid, black, and sticky broth, which serves 
rather to keep death away than to impart life. 

On a certain morning a deer was found, dead since four or 
or five days; it was a lucky acquisition for poor famished 
beings. I was offered some, and, although the bad smell hin- 
dered some of them from eating it, hunger made me take my 
share ; but I had, in consequence an offensive odor in my 
mouth until the next day. 

In addition to all these miseries we met with at the rapids, 
I used to carry packs as large as possible for my strength ; 
but I often succumbed, and this gave our Indians occasion to 
laugh at me. They used to make fun of me, saying a child 
ought to be called, to carry both me and my baggage. Our 
good God did not altogether abandon me on these occasions ; 
for often He would move some one of them to compassion, who 
would, without saying anything, take my box of vestments 
from me or some other pack that I was carrying, and thus aid 
me to make my way with greater ease. 

It sometimes happened that, after having carried baggage 
and paddled all day and even two or three hours of the night, 
we lay down on the ground or on some rock, without supper; 



40 

to begin the same labors next day. Divine Providence, how- 
ever, everywhere mingled a little sweetness and cnnsolation 
with our fatigues. 

We had endured these hardships about fifteen days, and had 
passed Lake Nipissirinien,^ when on coursing down a small 
river, we heard lamentable cries and songs of death. We 
steered towards the place whence those cries proceeded, and 
saw eight young Indians of the Ottaouac tribe horribly burned 
by a sad accident, a spark of fire having unluckily fallen into 
a keg of powder. Four of them, especially, were scorched all 
over and in danger of death. I consoled them and prepared 
them for Baptism, which I would have imparted had I had 
time enough to see them sufficiently prepared ; for, notwith- 
standing this misfortune, we had to keep on walking to get to 
the entry of the Lake of the Hurons (Lake Huron), which 
was the general rendez-vous of all those travelers. 

On the twenty-fourth of this month (August) they met there 
to the number of one hundred canoes, and it was then they 
attended to the healing of the poor men who had been burnt, 
employing for this purpose all their superstitious remedies. 

I plainly perceived this the following night by the song- of 
certain jugglers (medicine-men) resounding on the air, and a 
thousand other ridiculous ceremonies of which they made use. 
Others made a kind of sacrifice to the sun, thus to obtain the 
cure of those sick men; for ten or twelve of them having seated 
themselves in a circle, as if to hold a council, on the point of 
a rocky islet, they lighted a small fire, and as the smoke of this 
fire ascended on high, they sent up with it confused cries, 
which ended in a harangue, which the eldest and foremost 
amongst them addressed to the sun. 

I could not bear the invocation of their imaginary gods in 
my presence, although I saw myself entirely at the mercy of 
all those people. I remained in doubt for some time whether 
it would be more proper for me quietly to withdraw, or to 
oppose their superstitious practices. The remainder of my 
journey depended upon them ; if I irritate them, thought I, 
the devil will make use of their anger to shut against me the 
entrance into their country and hinder their conversion. 
Besides, I had already noticed how little efiectmy words had 

1. LakeNipissinp:. The Ottawas call all small inland lakes, "nibish," hence 
"Nipisslng-" a corrupt form of ' nibishlng"; "irini" stands for the Chippewa 
word "inini" man; the whole means "Lake Nipissing people." 



41 

on their minds, and I knew that opposition would exasperate 
them still more. Notwithstanding all these reasons, I be- 
lieved that God required this little service of me. I, therefore, 
proceeded to the place of this performance, leaving the success 
of my undertaking to his Divine Providence. I attacked the 
foremost of the medicine-men and, after a long disputation 
between us, God deigned to touch the heart of the sick man. 
He promised me not to tolerate any superstitious perform- 
ances in order to be healed, and, calling upon God in a short 
prayer, he invoked Him as the author of life and death. 

This victory should not be considered a slight one, being 
gained, as it was, over the demon within his empire, where 
for so many ages he had been obeyed and adored by those 
people. This he resented shortly afterwards and sent us the 
medicine-man, who yelled like a mad-man outside of our 
cabin and seemed anxious to vent his rage upon our French- 
men. I prayed to our Lord, that his vengeance might not 
fall upon anyone else except myself, and my prayer was not 
in vain. We lost nothing except our canoe, which this 
wretch broke into pieces. 

I was grieved at the same time to learn the death of one 
of those poor burnt men, without having been able to assist 
him. Nevertheless, I hope God has been merciful to him, 
on account of the acts of faith and contrition and several 
other prayers, which I taught him to say the first time I saw 
him, which was also the last. 

Towards the beginning of September, after having coasted 
along the shores of the Lake of the Hurons, we arrived at 
the Sault. It is thus they call half a league of rapids in a 
beautiful river which connects two great lakes, namely that 
of the Hurons and Lake Superior. 

It is a fine river, as well on account of the islets, with 
which it is studded, as also on account of the fishery and 
chase which are very abundant there. We went to sleep on 
one of those islets, where our Indians thought they would 
find something with which to prepare supper immediately 
after their arrival; for, when landing, they put the kettle on 
the fire, expecting to see their canoe loaded with fish as soon 
as they would cast their nets into the water. But God 
wished to punish their presumption, postponing till the next 
day to feed those famished men. 



42 

It was thus on the second of September, after having 
passed the Sault, which is not a fall of water but only a very 
strong current, hindered in its course by a number of rocks 
in the bed of the river, that we entered Lake Superior, which 
will bear hereafter the name of Monsieur de Tracy, m 
acknowledgment of the obligations which the people of 
these countries owe him. 

The shape of this lake is almost like that of a bow, the 
shores on the south side forming a great curve, and those of 
the north almost a straight line. The fishing is very plenti- 
ful in this lake, the fish excellent, and the water so clear and 
pure that one can see in as much as six fathoms of water 
what is at the bottom. 

The Indians venerate this lake as a divinity and ofler it 
sacrifice, be it on account of its great size, as it is two hundred 
leagues long and eighty in breadth at its widest part, or on 
account of its value, furnishing, as it does, the fish that sup- 
ports those people in place of the chase, which is scarce in 
the surrounding country. 

At the bottom of the water pieces of pure copper are often 
found, some weighing as much as twenty pounds. Several 
times I have seen such in the hands of the Indians. As they 
are superstitious, they keep these pieces of copper as so 
many divinities, or as presents made them by the gods who 
are at the bottom of the water, in order to procure them 
good luck. For this reason they keep these pieces of copper, 
wrapped up in cloth or buckskin, among their most precious 
goods. There are some who have kept such pieces of copper 
more than fifty years, others have them in their families 
from times immemorial^ and cherish them as household 
gods. 

For some time a large rock, as it were, wholly of copper, 
has been seen, the point of which projected out of the water, 
giving occasion to those passing by to cut ofi" pieces of the 
ore. When I passed the place, however, nothing more was 
seen ot it. I think the storms, which here are very frequent 
and similar to those on the ocean, have covered the rock 
with sand. Our Indians wished to make me believe it was 



1. See "Hist, and biog'. notes," where it is related that an Indian chief of 
La Poiute ha.i stich a piece of copper, which had been kept in his family over 
thi-ee centuries. 



43 

a divinity which had disappeared for some reason they did 
not tell. 

For the rest, this lake is the resort of twelve or fifteen 
different Indian tribes, some coming from the North, others 
from the South, and still others from the West; and all be- 
take themselves either to such places along the shore most 
suitable for fishing, or to the islands, which are very numer- 
ous in all quarters of this lake. The design these people 
have in coming here, is partly to make a living by fishing, 
partly to carry on their little traffic with one another when 
they meet. But God's design was to facilitate the announce- 
ment of the gospel to these wandering tribes, as will ap- 
pear in the course of this journal. 

Having then entered Lake Tracy (Superior), we were en- 
gaged the whole month of September in coasting along the 
south shore. I had the consolation of saying holy Mass, as 
I now found myself alone with our Frenchmen, what I had 
not been able to do since my departure from Three Rivers. 

Having thus consecrated these forests by this holy action, 
to complete my joy God led me to the edge of the water, 
there to meet with two sick children whom they were taking 
on board to proceed toward the inland with them. I was 
strongly moved interiorly to baptize them, and, having taken 
all necessary precautions, I did so, as I saw they were in 
danger of dying during the winter. I made nothing more of 
all past hardships and welcomed starvation, which always 
followed closely on our heels, as we had nothing to eat, ex- 
cept what our fishermen, who were not always lucky, could 
furnish us from day to day. 

We afterwards passed the bay called by the aged, vener- 
able Father Menard, Saint Theresa Bay. There it is that 
this generous missionary spent the winter, laboring with the 
same zeal which afterwards caused him to give his life in run- 
ning after souls. Near by I found some remains of his labors. 
They were two Christian women, who had always kept the 
faith and who shone like two stars in this night of paganism. 
I had them pray to God after refreshing in them the memory 
of our mysteries. 

The devil, who is without doubt very jealous of this glory 
rendered to God in this empire of his, did all he could to 
prevent me fropa coming here. Not having been able to 
succeed, he managed to get some manuscripts I carried along, 



44 

which were of value to me for instructing those pagans. I 
had enclosed them in a small box, along with some medi- 
cines for the sick. The malignant spirit, foreseeing that such 
would be of great service to me for the salvation of the In- 
dians, made some efforts to cause me to lose this box; for once 
it fell overboard into the seething waters of a certain cataract; 
another time it had been left at the lower end of a portage; it 
passed into different hands seven or eight times. Finally it 
came to the possession of the sorcerer, whom I had rebuked 
at the entrance of the lake of the Hurons. Having opened 
it, he took what suited him, and then abandoned it, leaving 
it open to the rain and to those passing by . God deigned to 
put to shame the malignant spirit and to make use of the 
greatest medicine-man of these regions, a man of six wives 
and of a most dissolute life, to restore this box to me. He 
handed it to me, when I no longer thought of it, telling me 
that the theriac and other medicines, as also some pictures 
which were in the box, were so many Manitous or devils, who 
would kill him, if he should dare to touch them. I after- 
wards found, by experience, how much these writings, in 
the language of the country, served me for their conversion. 



CHAPTER VI. 



On the Arrival of th'-' Missionary and his Stay at the 
Bay of the Holy Ghost, called Chagaouamigong. 

After having traveled one hundred and eighty leagues on 
the south shore of Lake Tracy, during which our Saviour 
often deigned to try our patience by storms, hunger, daily 
and nightly fatigues, toe finally, on the first day of October, 1665, 
arrived at Chagaouamigong, for which place we had sighed so 
long. It is a beautiful bay,^ at the head of which is situated the 
large village of the Indians, who there cultivate fields of In- 
dian corn, and do not lead a wandering life. There are at 
this place men bearing arms who number about eight hun- 
dred ; but these are gathered together from seven different 

bes, and live in peaceable community. 

1. S'.e "Hist.; and biog. notes" in regard to the s 
chapel, on La Pointe du Saint Esprit. 



45 

This great number of people induced us to prefer this place to 
all others for our ordinary abode, in order to attend more conven- 
iently to the instruction of these heathens, to put up a Chapel there 
and commence the functions of Christianity. 

At first we could only put ourselves under a roof of bark 
(live in a wigwam made of bark) where we were so often 
visited by these people, of whom the greater part had never 
seen a European, that we were overrun by them. The 
instructions which I gave them were continually interrupted 
by people going and coming, which made me resolve to go 
and see them myself in their respective wigwams, where I 
talked to them about God more at ease, and instructed them 
more leisurely in all the mysteries of our faith. 

Whilst I was attending to these holy works, a young Indian, 
one of those who had been burnt by the explosion of the keg 
of powder, as related above, came to see me and asked to 
become a Christian, assuring me that he in real earnest wished 
to be baptized. He related something that happened to him, 
of which people may think as they like. "I had no sooner 
obeyed you," said he to me, "sending away the sorcerer, who 
wanted to cure me with his jugglery, than I saw Him who 
made all things, of whom you spoke to me, and He said to 
me in a voice which I heard distinctly: "You will not die of 
the burning, because you have listened to the Black Gown." 
Scarcely had He finished speaking than I felt myself wonder- 
fully strengthened and I had great confidence that I would 
be restored, which you now see in fact, as I am perfectly 
healed." I have good hopes that He who has effected the 
healing of the body will not abandon that of the soul. I 
am the more confident of this, because this Indian came to 
seek me of his own accord, in order to learn prayers and to 
receive the necessary instructions. 

Not long afterwards I know we sent to heaven a child, still 
in its swaddling clothes, that died two days after I had given 
it holy Baptism. Saint Francis, whose name it bore, no 
doubt, presented this innocent soul to God, as the first fruit of 
this mission. 

I do not know what will be the lot of another child I 
baptized immediately after its birth. Its father, who was of 
the Outaouac tribe, summoned me as soon as it was born, 
and even came to tell me himself that I should baptize it as 
soon as possible, in order to make it live long. Wonderful 



46 

thing in these Indians, who heretofore believed that baptism 
caused death to their children, and now they are under the 
impression that it is necessary to them, in order to procure 
them a long life. This gives me more access to these child- 
ren, who often come to me in crowds, to satisfy their curiositj'' 
in looking at the stranger, but much more so to receive with- 
out thinking of it, the first seeds of the gospel, which will 
yield fruit in due time in these young plants. 



CHAPTER VII. 



General Council of the Tribes op the Outaouac Country. 

The Father having arrived in the country of the Outaouacs^ 
found them disturbed by the fear of a new war which they 
were about to wage with the Nadouessi (Sioux), a warlike 
tribe who in their battles use no other arms than the bow 
and war-club. 

A party of young warriors were already being formed under 
the leadership of a cert'un chief, who, having been offended, 
did not take into consideration whether the revenge he was 
eager to take, might not cause the ruin of all the villages of 
his country. 

In order to prevent these misfortunes, the old men of the 
tribe, convened a general council often or twelve of the neigh- 
boring tribes, all of whom had something at stake in this war, 
in order to arrest the tomahawk of these rash men by means 
of the presents they would make them in so good a company. 

The Father was also invited for this purpose, and he went 
at the same time to speak to all those tribes in the name of 
Monsieur de Tracy, whose three words he carried, with three 
presents, the interpreters of said words ^ 

This whole great assembly having given him leave to ad- 
dress them, he said "My brethren, the business that brought 
me into your country is very important and deserves that you 
listen to my words with extraordinary attention. It concerns 
iiothing less than the preservation of your whole country and 
the destruction of all your enemies." At these words the 

1 See "Hist, and Biog-. notes" for an account of the three presents sent by 
the French governor to the Upper Algonquin tribes, and their meaning. 



47 

Father having found them very much disposed to listen to 
him attentively, he told them about the war which Monsieur 
de Tracy had undertaken against the Iroquois, how he was 
going to bring them back to their duty by the force of the 
king's arms and thus t© render commercial intercourse secure 
between us and them (i. e. between the French and Lake Supe- 
rior tribes), and to clear all the highways to the French set- 
tlements of those river- pirates, forcing them either to accept a 
general peace or, otherwise, see themselves totally destroyed. 
And it was here the Father took occasion to speak of the piety 
of his Majesty, who wished that God should be known through- 
out all his dominions, and who did not like people under his 
sway, who were not obedient to the Creator of the Universe. 
He then explained to them the principal articles of our faith 
and spoke to them strongly on all the mysteries of our relig- 
ion, in a word he preached Jesus Christ to all those tribes. 

It is, no doubt, a great consolation to a poor missionary, 
when, having traveled five hundred leagues amid fatigues, 
dangers, hunger, and all kinds of miseries, he sees himself 
listened to by so many different tribes, announcing the Gos- 
pel to them and dispensing the words of salvation, of which 
they have never heard before. 

These are the seeds which for some time remain in the 
ground and do not yield fruit immediately. It is necessary 
to go and gather them in the wigwams, in the forests and 
on the lakes, and that is what the Father did, who was found 
everywhere, in their cabins, at their embarkings, on their 
voyages; and everywhere he found children to baptize, sick 
to prepare for the Sacraments, old Christians to confess, and 
Pagans to instruct. 

One day revolving in his mind the obstacles to the faith, 
considering the condition and depraved customs of all those 
tribes, the Father felt himself moved interiorly during the 
holy sacrifice of the mass, to ask of God, through the inter- 
cession of St. Andrew, whose feast the church was celebrating 
that day (Nov. 30) that his Divine Majesty would deign to 
make known to him the day for establishing the Kingdom of 
Jesus Christ in these countries in place of paganism; and 
from that day God gave him to understand the great ob- 
stacles he would meet with, so as to steel him more and more 
against those difficulties, as will become sufficiently clear in 
the following chapter. 



48 
CHAPTER VIII. 



On the False Gods and Supertitious Customs of the 
Indians op that Country.^ 

This is what Father Allouez relates in regard to the cus- 
toms of the Outaouacs and other tribes, which customs he 
has studied very carefully, not relying upon the accounts 
given him by others, but having seen himself and noticed 
all that he left in writing. 

"There is here," says he, "a false and abominable religion, 
similar in many things to that of some ancient pagans. The 
Indians here do not acknowledge any Sovereign Master of 
Heaven and Earth. They believe that there are many mani- 
tous, some of whom are beneficent, as the sun, the moon, the 
lake, the rivers and woods ; others malevolent, as for instance 
snakes, the dragon, cold, storms, and in general all that 
appears to them useful or injurious they call a manitou and 
they render to such objects the worship and veneration which 
we give to the true God alone. 

They invoke them when they go to hunt, to fish, to war or 
on a voyage. They offer them sacrifices with ceremonies 
only used by such as offer sacrifice. 

An old man from amongst the foremost of the village per- 
forms the functions of a pagan priest. He begins with a 
studied harangue which he addresses to the sun, if the sacri- 
fice is offered in its honor, and they get up a feast at which 
all has to be consumed by the guests. This is accordingly 
something like a holocaust. He loudly declares that he re- 
turns thanks to that luminary for giving him light, luckily 
to slay some animal. He implores it and exhorts it for the 
sake of this feast, to continue its loving care for his family. 
During this invocation all the guests eat until the last bit is 
consumed, after which, a man appointed for that particular 
office, takes a cake of tobacco, breaks it in two and throws it 
into the fire. All present raise a great outcry, whilst the to- 
bacco is being consumed by the fire and the smoke going up, 
and with these clamors the whole sacrifice ends. 

"I have seen an idol," says the Father, "set up in the mid- 
dle of a village, to which, among other presents, they offered 

1. See " Hist, and Biog', notes," where the reader will find an article on 
Indian superstitions, war-dance a:id relig-ion, taken from Perrot's "Memoire." 



49 

ten dogs in sacrifice, that this false god might vouchsafe to 
banish elsewhere a malady which was depopulating the vil- 
lage. All of them went there daily to make their offerings 
to this idol according to their needs." 

Besides these public sacrifices, they have private and 
domestic ones; for in their wigwams they often throw some 
tobacco into the fire, with a kind of exterior offering which 
they make to their false gods. 

During storms and tempests they sacrifice a dog to the 
lake, which they throw into its waters, saying : ' Here is some- 
thing to pacify thee; be still !' In dangerous places on rivers 
they strive to propitiate the eddies and falls by offering them 
presents. So much are they persuaded that they really 
honor their pretended divinities by this exterior worship, 
that those amongst them who have been converted and bap- 
tized, make use of these same ceremonies in worshipping the 
true God until they are disabused of their error. 

For the rest, as these people are dull, they do not acknowl- 
edge any deity purely spiritual. They believe that the sun 
is a man and the moon is his wife; that snow and ice are also 
human beings, who go away in spring and come back again 
in winter; that the devil dwells in snakes, dragons, and other 
monsters; that crows, hawks and some other birds are mani- 
tous and talk as well as we do, pretending there are some 
Indians who understand their language just as some of them 
understand a little French. 

Moreover, they believe that the souls of the departed 
govern the fishes in the lake, and hence, at all times, they 
have believed in the immortality of the soul, even holding 
the doctrine of metempsychosis, that is, the transmigration 
of the souls of deceased fishes, for they believe that they again 
pass into the bodies of other fishes. For this reason they 
never throw the remains of fish they have eaten into the fire, 
for fear of displeasing the shades of those fishes, so that they 
might not come into their nets any more. 

They entertain a particular veneration for a certain imag- 
inary animal, which they have never seen except in dreams. 
They call it Missibizi, and consider it a great manitou, to 
which they offer sacrifice to obtain good luck, when they go 
fishing for sturgeon. 

Moreover, they say the little pieces of copper-ore which 
they find at the bottom of the lake, or in the rivers that 



50 

empty into the lake, they are the riches of the gods who 
dwell in the bowels of the earth. 

" I have learned," says the Father who found out all these 
follies, " that the Iliniouek, the Outagami and other Indians 
towards the south, believe that there is a great and excellent 
manitou, master of all the rest, who made heaven and earth 
and who resides in the east, towards the country of the 
French." 

The source of their religion is libertinism, and all their 
superstitious sacrifices generally end in feasts of debauchery^ 
improper dances,- and infamous concubinage. The men em- 
ploy all their zeal in having many wives and exchanging 
them whenever it suits them; the women, in leaving their 
husbands, and the girls, in living dissolutely - 

They shrink not from suffering much on account of those 
foolish divinities, for they fast in their honor to ascertain the 
issue of affairs. " I have seen some of them," says the Father^ 
" with compassion, who, designing to go to war or to hunt, 
spend eight days in succession hardly partaking of any food^ 
and that with such fixed determination, that they would not 
desist untJl seeing in a dream what they so much desired, as, 
a herd of moose, or a band of Iroquois put to flight, or some- 
thing similar. This is not very hard for a poor feilow with 
empty brains, wholly exhausted by fasting, and who thinks 
of nothing else all day long but what he wants to dream 
about. 

Let us say something about the medical art as practiced in 
this country. Their knowledge of medical science consists 
in ascertaining the cause of sickness and applying the remedy. 

They think the ordinary cause of sickness comes from hav- 
ing failed to make a feast after a lucky fishing or hunting, for 
the sun, which likes feasts, gets angry at the person who has 
failed in his duty and makes him sick. Besides this general 
cause of sickness there are certain particular ones, namely, 
certain little manitous, malevolent by nature, who manage to 
get in of themselves, or who by some enemy are put into 
those parts of the body which are sick the most. Thus, for 
instance, if a person feels a headache, a pain in his arms or 
in his stomach, it is a manitou, they say, that has got into 
those parts of the body, and he will not cease to torment the 
sick man, until some one has either pulled him out or 
banished him. 



51 

Hence the ordinary remedy is to call the medicine-man, 
who comes in company with some old men with whom he 
holds a kind of consultation as to the malady that afflicts 
the sick man. Then he casts himself upon the part affected, 
and applies his mouth, pretending to suck from it a little 
stone, or the end of a string, or something else, which he had 
beforehand concealed in his mouth, and, showing it to the 
sick man, he says: "Here is the manitou that has been 
causing you pain ! See, your are now cured ! There is noth- 
ing to be done but to get up a feast." 

The devil, who is eager to torment these poor, blind people 
even in this world, has inspired them with another remedy 
in which they have great confidence, which is to take the 
patient by his arms and make him walk, with naked feet, 
over the burning coals of the wigwam. If he happens 
to be too weak to walk, four or five men bear him up and 
make him walk slowly over the fire. This often causes a 
greater evil to cure a minor one, or it causes them not to feel 
the lighter one, the smart of the burning caused by walking 
on the lighted coals, rendering them insensible to other infirm- 
ities or troubles. 

After all, the most common remedy, as it is the most profit- 
able to the doctor, or medicine-man, is to get up a feast in 
honor of the sun. believing that this luminary, being fond of 
liberality, will be appeased by a magnificent repast, and will 
look upon the sick man with a gracious eye to restore him 
to health. 

All this shows how far these poor people are from the king- 
dom of God. But He who can touch hearts as hard as stone, 
can make them children of Abraham and vessels of election. 
He can cause Christianity to be born in the bosom of idolatry, 
and with the light of faith, enlighten even savages jjlunged in 
the darkness of error and in an ocean of debauchery. This 
will be known from the account of the missions the Father 
established in that remote end of the world during the first 
two years he dwelt there. 



52 
CHAPTER IX. 



Account of the Mission of the Holy Ghost at Lake Tracy. 

After a hard and disagreeable voyage of five hundred 
leagues, during which miseries of all kinds were met with, 
the Father, having gone towards the extremity of the great 
lake, there found an opportunity to exercise the zeal which 
had enabled him to endure so many hardships in founding 
the missions, of which we are about to speak. Let us begin 
with that of the Holy Ghost, which is the place where he 
resided. This is what he says of it: 

"This section of the lake shore, where we have settled down, 
is between two large villages and is, as it were, the centre of all 
the . tribes of these countries, because the fishing here is very 
good, which is the principal source of support to these people. 

We have erected here a small bark chapel, wherein my 
whole occupation consists in receiving the Christian Algon- 
quins and Hurons, instructing them, baptizing and catechiz- 
ing their children; admitting pagans who, attracted by the 
novelty of the thing, assemble here from all parts of the 
country, speaking to them in public and in private, combat- 
ting their idolatry, making them see into the truths of our 
faith, and thus suffering no one to depart from me without 
having first sowed some seeds of the Gospel into his soul. 

God gave me the grace to make myself understood by 
more than ten different tribes, but I confess it is necessary 
to beg Him for patience, even before daylight, in order to 
suffer joyfully the contempt, raillery, importunity and arro- 
gance of these savages.^ 

Another occupation I have in my Chapel is to baptize sick 
children, which the Pagans themselves bring to me, in order 
to get medicine from me, and since I see that God restores 
these innocent little children to health after Baptism, I am in 
hopes He intends to make them, as it were, the foundation 
of his church in these quarters. 

I have hung different pictures in the chapel, for instance, 
of Hell and the General Judgment, which supply me with 

1. The Father uses the present tense frequently and the adverb here, in 
these articles, showing' that the notes, which he copied into his journal, were 
written on the shoi-es of Chequamegon Bay. 



53 

subjects for instruction very suitable to the capacity of my 
hearers. In this manner I have no difficulty afterwards to 
make them attentive, to make them chant the ^'Our Father^'' and 
" Hnil Mary,'''' in their language, and to take the lead in the 
prayers I have them say after each instruction. All this 
attracts so great a number of Indians to instruction, that 
from morning till night I see myself happily obliged to do 
nothing else. 

God gives his blessing to these beginnings. Sins of im- 
purity are less frequent now among the young. Girls, who 
previously did not blush at the most shameless actions, are re- 
served in their behavior and observe the modesty so becom- 
ing to, their sex. 

I know many of them, who, when solicited to sins against 
purity, boldly answer that they pray to God, that is to say, 
are Christians, and that the Black Gown forbids them these 
debaucheries. 

A young girl of ten or twelve years came to me one day, 
to ask to become a Christian. " My little sister," said I to 
her, "you do not deserve it. You know very well what was 
said of you some months ago." "It is true," she answered, 
" I was foolish at that time and did not know that what I 
was doing was bad, but since you told us so, and I began to 
pray, I have not done it any more." 

The first days of 1666 were employed in presenting New 
Year gifts to the Infant Jesus, which, no doubt, were very 
pleasing. This present consisted of several children, whom 
their mothers, receiving a very extraordinary inspiration 
from God, brought to me to have them baptized. So this 
small congregation was increasing little by little. Seeing they 
were already imbued with our mysteries, I judged it time to 
transfer our little chapel to the large village, three-fourths of 
a league distant from our dwelling-place, and composed of 
from forty-five to fifty large wigwams of all tribes, where 
there are as many as two thousand souls. ^ 

It was just at the time of their greatest debaucheries, and I 
can say, in general, that I saw in this Babylon the perfect 
picture of libertinism. I did not omit laboring here the same 
way as in our first place of abode and with the same success. 
But the malignant spirit, being envious of the good which 

1. The writer is of the opinion that this large village of 2,000 souls was on 
the southeast end of Chequamegon Bay, between Fish Creek and Ashland. 



54 

the grace of God eflfected here, caused diabolical juggleries to 
be performed every day right near our chapel for the healing 
of a sick woman. These juggleries consisted of nothing else 
than superstitious dances, hideous masquerades, horrible 
clamors and a thousand buffooneries. I did not fail to go and 
see her every day, and, in order to attract her by kindness 
I made her a present of some grapes. At last the sorcerers 
having declared that her soul had departed and that they 
had no hopes of her getting better, I went to see her next day 
and told her that this was not true, and that I even hoped she 
would be cured, provided she would believe in Jesus Christ. 
But I could not make any impression on her mind. Hence 
I determined to speak to the sorcerer himself who attended 
her. He was so surprised to see me at his place, that he 
seemed wholly dumfounded. I showed him the follies of his 
art and that he contributed more to the death of his patients 
than to prolonging their- lives. In reply he threatened to 
make me feel their effect by certain death. A little after, 
having begun his j ugglery , he kept at it for three hours. From 
time to time he would cry out in the midst of his ceremonies 
the Black Gown would die of their effects ; but through 
divine grace, all was in vain. God even knew how to draw 
good from evil; for the medicine-man, having himself sent 
two of his children to have them baptized, they received by 
means of the sacred waters of Baptism, at one and the same 
time, the cure of both soul and body. 

The next day I visited another celebrated sorcerer, a man 
who had six wives and who lived in such disorder as may be 
imagined in company of this kind. I found in his wigwam a 
small army of children. I sought to acquit myself of the 
duties of my ministry, but in vain. This is the first time I 
saw Christianity mocked in these quarters, especially in what 
concerns the resurrection of the dead and the fire of hell. I 
left with this reflection : " Ibant Apostoli gaudentes a con- 
spectu concilii, quoniam digni habiti sunt pro nomine Jesu 
contumeliam pati."^' 

The insults I received in that wigwam soon became known 
outside and were the cause of others treating me with the 
same insolent affronts. Already they had broken away a part 
of the bark, that is of the walls of our church; already they 

1 "The Apostles went rejoicing- from the sig^ht of the council, because they 
had been judged worthy to suller insult for the name of Jesus." 



55 

had commenced to rob me of all that I had; the young 
assembled more and more and became the more insulting; and 
the word of Grod was listened to only with scorn and derision. 
This obliged me to abandon this post, in order to return to our 
ordinary dwelling-place, having this consolation when leaving; 
them, that Jesus Christ had been preached and the faith 
announced both publicly as also to each Indian individually, 
for besides those who filled our chapel from morning till 
night, the others who stayed at home in their wigwams, were 
instructed by such as had heard me. 

I have heard them myself in the evening, after all had 
retired, repeat understandingly, in the tone of a chief, the 
whole instruction I had given them during the day. They 
admit indeed, what I taught them is very reasonable, but 
libertinism over-rules reason, and if grace be not very power- 
ful, all our instructions have but little effect. 

One of them having come to see me, in order to be instructed, 
at the first word I said to him concerning the two wives he 
had, said to me : " My brother, you are speaking to me of a 
very difficult affair ; it is enough that my children pray to 
God, i. e. become Christians, instruct them." 

After I had left that place of abomination, God led me about 
two leagues away from the site of our dwelling, where I found 
three adults, who were sick, and whom I baptized after suffi- 
cient instruction. Two of them died after Baptism. The 
secrets of God are wonderful, and I could relate several 
instances of the same kind, which show His loving Providence 
for the elect. 



CHAPTER X. 



On the Mission of the Tignnontateheronnons. 
The Tionnontateheronnons^ of to-day are the same people, 
who were formerly called the "Hurons of the Tobacco Tribe." 
They were obliged, like other tribes, to leave their country to 
flee from the Iroquois, and to withdraw towards the end of 
this large lake, where distance and lack of game served them 
as protection against their enemies. 

1 Pronouuced Tee-on-non-tah-tay-heron-nons, Hurons of the " Tobacco 
Nation." See "Hist, and Biog. Notes" In regard to that tribe. They seem to 
have dwelt on the southwest end of Chequamegon Bay, between the liead of 
the bay and Washburn. 



56 

Formerly they formed a part of the flourishing church of 
the Hurons and they had the aged Father Garnier for their 
Pastor, who so courageously gave his life for his dear flock; 
hence they cherish a particular veneration for his memory. 

Since their expulsion from their own country, they have 
not been trained in the exercise of the Christian religion ; 
hence they are Christians rather by condition (having been 
baptized in their native country) than by profession. They 
glory in that beautiful name; but the intercourse they have had 
with pagans for so long a time, has almost effaced from their 
minds every vestige of religion and caused them to resume 
many of their ancient customs. They have their village pretty 
near our place of abode, which makes it possible for me to 
attend to this mission with greater assiduity than the others 
farther away. 

I have, therefore, endeavored to restore this mission to its 
former state, by preaching the word of God and by the adminis- 
tration of the sacraments. The very first winter I passed with 
them, I conferred Baptism on one hundred children and, 
subsequently on others during the first two years that I 
attended them. The adults approached the sacrament of Pen- 
ance, assisted at the holy Sacrifice of the Mass, said prayers 
both in public and in private, — in a word, they practiced their 
relioion as if they had been very well instructed. It was not 
difficult for me to reestablish piety in their hearts and 
reawaken the good sentiments they used to have for the faith. 

Of the children baptized, God only deigned to take two 
that flew away to heaven after their Baptism. As to the adults, 
there are three for whose salvation it seems God sent me here. 

The first was an old man, an Ousaki (Sac) by birth, for- 
merly an eminent man amongst those of his tribe and who 
had always been esteemed by the Hurons, by whom he had 
been taken captive in war. A few days after my arrival in 
this country, I learned that he was sick about four leagues 
distant. I went to him, instructed and baptized him, and 
three hours afterwards he died, leaving me all possible indi- 
cations that God had bestowed mercy on him. 

If my voyage from Quebec had had no other fruit than the 
salvation of this poor old man, I would consider all my steps 
but too well recompensed, since the Son of God shed even 
the last drop of His blood for him. 



57 

The second person, of whom I have to speak, is a woman 
very far advanced in age. She was detained about two leagues 
from our dwelling-place, by a dangerous sickness, caused 
by a bag of powder accidentally taking fire in her wigwam. 
Father Gamier^ had promised her baptism more than fifteen 
years ago, which he was ready to confer when he was killed 
by the Iroquois. This good Father did not forget his prom- 
ise. Like a good Shepherd, he procured by his intercession 
that I should be here before she died. I went to see her the 
day of All Saints (Nov. 1st), and, having refresiied her mem- 
ory on all our mysteries, I found that the seeds of the word 
of God, sowed in her soul so many years ago, had produced 
fruit, which only awaited the waters of Baptism to come 
to maturity. Having well prepared her, I conferred this 
Sacrament upon her, and that very night she resigned her 
soul to her Creator. 

The third person is a young girl, fourteen years of age, who 
diligently attended all the catechetical instructions I gave, 
and joined in the prayers which I had them say, of which 
she had learned a good many by heart. She fell sick. Her 
mother who was not a Christian, called the sorcerers and had 
them perform all the follies of their infamous trade. I heard 
about it, went to seek the girl and made her a proposal of 
Baptism. She was overjoyed to receive it; after which, child 
though she was, she opposed all the juggleries they tried 
to perform around her, saying by her Baptism she had 
renounced all those superstitions; and in this generous com- 
bat she died, praying to God until she breathed her last sigh. 



CHAPTER XI. 



On the Mission the Outaoua^cs,^ Kiskakoumac and Outa- 
ouasinagouc. 

I here join these tribes because they have one and the 
same language, which is the Algonquin ; and compose one 
and the same village, which is opposite that of the Tionnonta- 
teheronnons, between which two villages we reside. 

1 See " His. and Biog. Notes," where the martyrdom of this saintly priest 
is described. 

2 See " Hist, and Biog. Notes." Outaouasinagoue pron. Oo-tah-wah-sin- 
ah-gook. Their village was probably located at the southeast corner of Che- 
quamagon Bay. 



58 

The Outaouacs claim that the great river (the St.Lawrence) 
belongs to them, and that no tribe may navigate it without 
their consent. For this reason all of those who go to traffic 
with the French, although of very different tribes, bear the 
general name of Outaouacs, under whose auspices they make 
their voyage. 

The ancient abode of the Outaouacs was a certain tract on 
the lake of the Hurons, whence the fear of the Iroquois drove 
them, and towards this their native country tend all their 
desires. 

These people have very little inclination to the faith, because 
they are most strongly addicted to idolatry, to superstitious 
practices, to fables, polygamy, instability of marriages, and 
to every kind of libertinism which causes them to smother all 
natural feelings of shame. All these obstacles did not, how- 
ever, prevent me from preaching the name of Jesus Christ and 
announcing the Gospel in all their wigwams and in our chapel, 
which is filled from morning till night. Here I give them 
continual instructions on our mysteries and on the command- 
ments of God. 

The first winter I spent with them, I already had the con- 
solation of baptizing about eighty children, some of them 
boys and girls from eight to ten years, who by their assiduity 
in coming to prayers had rendered themselves worthy of this 
happiness. What contributes much to the baptism of these 
children, now very common, is that these sacred waters not 
only do not cause death, as they formerly supposed, but, on 
the contrary, give health to the sick and restore the dying to 
life. As a matter of fact, God has taken to himself but six 
of all the children baptized, and left the others to serve as a 
foundation to this new church. 

As to the adults, I did not think it proper to baptize many 
of them, because their superstition, so deeply rooted in their 
minds, opposed a powerful barrier to their conversion. 
Among the four whom I judged to be well prepared for this 
sacrament. Divine providence manifested itself plainly in the 
case of one poor sick man, who lived two leagues from our 
dwelling place. I did not know he was sick, nevertheless I 
felt myself interiorly urged to go and see him, notwithstand- 
ing the little strength and health I had. I went as far as a 
hamlet a good league distant from us, where I found nobody 
sick, but where I was informed of another hamlet farther 



59 

distant. Notwithstanding my weakness I thought God 
required me to go there. I proceeded thither with a great deal 
of sufifering and found this dying Indian, who only awaited 
baptism, which I gave him after the necessary prepara- 
tion. Happily he had heard the instructions I gave during 
the winter, when he came to our chapel with others, and by 
his diligent attendance rendered himself deserving of this 
mercy of God. 

During the summer of this same year I was occupied, 
especially, in assisting the sick of this mission. I baptized 
three whom I found in danger, two of whom died in the pro- 
fession of Christianity. God conducted me to some of the 
wigwams just in time to confer baptism on eleven sick chil- 
dren, who had not as yet the use of reason, of whom five 
went to enjoy God in Heaven. Of seventeen other children 
whom I baptized during autumn and the following winter, 
only one died, going to Heaven almost at the same time that 
a good old blind man expired, three days after his baptism. 



CHAPTER XII. 



On the Mission of the Pouteouatamiouec. 

The Pouteouatami^ are a tribe who speak Algonquin, but 
very much harder to be understood than the Outaouacs. 
Their country is at the lake of the lUimouec (Illinois, Lake 
Michigan). It is a large lake, which, as yet, is not well 
known by us, adjoining the lake of the Hurons and that of 
the Puants (Green Bay) between the east and south. They 
are a war-like people, hunters and fishermen. Their country 
is very good for Indian corn, fields of which they cultivate 
and thither they willingly retire, in order to escape famine, 
so common in this country. They are extremely idolatrous, 
attached to ridiculous fables, and fond of polygamy. We 
have seen them here to the number of three hundred men, 
bearing arms. Of all the tribes with whom I have had to deal 
in these regions, they are the most docile and the most 
friendly towards the French. Their women and daughters 

1 Pronounced Poo-tay-wau-tah-mee. See "Hist, and Biog. Notes," where 
the reader will find a short sketch of that tribe. They are now mostly settled 
in Kansas and Ind. Terr, and a few in Wisconsin and Michigan. 



60 

are more reserved in their disposition than those of other- 
tribes. They have some refinement of manners and show it 
towards strangers, a rare thing amongst our Indians. Hav- 
ing once gone to see one of their aged men (probably an old 
chief) he looked at my shoes, made according to the French 
mode. Impelled by curiosity, he asked me to take them off 
and let him examine them at his ease. When he handed 
them back to me he would not suffer me to put them on my- 
self, but I was obliged to accept this service from him. He 
wished even to tie my shoe-strings, with the same tokens of 
respect that servants show to their masters. "See," said he 
"it is thus we serve those whom we honor." 

Another time, having gone to see him, he rose from his 
seat to offer it to me with the same ceremonies that polite- 
ness demands from gentlemen. 

I have publicly announced the faith to them at the gen- 
eral assembly spoken of above, which was held a few days 
after my arrival, and privately in their wigwams during the 
month I stayed with them here, and then during the whole 
autumn and winter following, in which time I baptized 
thirty -four of their children, nearly all in their cradle. For 
the consolation of this mission T must say the first one of 
these tribes to take possession of Heaven in the name of all its- 
countrymen was a Pouteouatami child that I baptized shortly 
after my arrival here, immediately before its death. 

During the same winter I received five adults into the 
church. The first was an old man of about one hundred 
years, whom the Indians looked upon as a kind of divinity. 
He used to fast twenty days in succession and had visions 
of God, that is to say, according to these people, of Him who 
made the earth. He fell sick, however, and was nursed by 
his two daughters with an assiduity and love beyond the 
comprehension of the Indians. Among other services they 
rendered him, they would repeat to him in the evening the 
instructions they had heard during the day at our chapel. 
God deigned to make use of their filial love for the conver- 
sion of their father. When I went to see him I found him 
acquainted with our mysteries and the Holy Ghost working 
in his heart by the ministry of his daughters, he vehe- 
mently begged to be made a Christian. This I granted him 
by conferring Baptism without delay, seeing him in danger 
of death. Thenceforth he would not have any juggleries 



61 

practiced about him for his cure, nor would he hear any 
other conversation than that which concerned the salvation 
of his soul. Once when I admonished him often to pray to 
God, "Know," said he, "my brother, I continually throw 
tobacco into the fire, saying : ' Thou who hast made Heaven 
and earth, this I do to honor Thee.' " I contented myself 
with making him understand that it was not necessary to 
honor God in such a way, but only by speaking to Him with 
mouth and heart. Afterwards, the time having come when 
the Indians require that one do their wishes by a ceremony 
very much resembling the Bacchanalia or the carnival, our 
good old man made them search throughout all the wig- 
wams for a piece of blue stuff, wishing for that because it 
was the color of Heaven, "towards which," he said, " I de- 
•sire always to direct my heart and my thoughts." I never 
saw an Indian who was more willing to pray to God. 
Among other prayers he repeated the following with extra- 
ordinary fervor : " My Father, who art in heaven ; my 
Father, may thy name be sanctified." These words con- 
tained more sweetness for him than those I suggested — "Our 
Father, who art in Heaven." Seeing himself one day so far 
advanced in age, he exclaimed of himself in the sentiment 
of St. Augustine: "Too late have I known Thee, my God; 
too late have I loved Thee !" I doubt not that his death, 
which soon followed, was precious in the eyes of God, who 
had suffered him to remain in idolatry for so many years, 
Teserving but a few days for him to end his life in this Chris- 
tian manner 

I must not omit mentioning something rather surprising. 
The day after his death his relatives, contrary to all the cus- 
toms of this country, burned his body and wholl}^ reduced 
it to ashes. The cause of this was a fable, here regarded as 
a fact. They maintain that the father of this old man was a 
hare that during the winter walks on the snow, and, conse- 
quently, the snow, the hare and the old man are from the 
same village, that is to say, relatives. They add that the 
hare once said to his wife he did not like their children to 
•dwell in the bowels of the earth, because that was not suit- 
able to their condition as relatives of the snow, whose coun- 
try is on high towards heaven ; and should it ever happen 
that they were put under ground, after death, he would pray 
to his relative, the snow, to fall in such quantity and stay 



62 

so long that there would be no spring, in order thus to pun- 
ish the people for their fault. In confirination of this yarn 
they add that three years ago the brother of our good old 
man died at the beginning of winter, and, having been buried 
as usual, the snow was so plentiful and the winter so long^ 
that people despaired of seeing the spring in season. Great 
numbers were dying of hunger, yet no help could be 
obtained for this public calamity. Hereupon the leading 
men assembled, held several councils, but all in vain; the 
snow kept on all the time. Finally one of the assembly said 
he remembered the threats above-mentioned, and immedi- 
ately they set about disinterring the body. Having burned 
it, the snowing ceased at once and spring approached. Who 
would think people could believe things so ridiculous, and 
yet these Indians regard them as incontrovertible facts. 

Our good old man is not the only one of his house to whom 
God showed mercy. His two daughters, who were instru- 
mental in the cause of his salvation, were, no doubt, drawn 
to Heaven by his prayers. One of them having been seized 
with an illness that lasted five days, God so directed my 
steps that I came to her assistance just in time to promote 
her eternal happiness, having been unable to go to her place 
until the evening before her death. I had sufficient time to 
prepare her for holy Baptism, which she received and then 
departed to enjoy with her good father the glory she had 
been the means of procuring him. The other dayghter has 
survived both her father and sister, and she seems to have 
inherited their piety. I found this woman so intelligent, so 
modest, and so well disposed toward the faith, that I did not 
hesitate to receive her into the church by imparting the 
sacraments. All the family of this happy neophyte, which 
is numerous, possess this goodness of disposition, which 
seems natural to them. They all have a tender affection for 
me, and showing me the greatest respect, call me their uncle. 
I hope God will be merciful to them all, for I see they are 
inclined to religion beyond the generality of Indians. 

Among the wonderful things wrought by God in this mis- 
sion, we can also state what occurred regarding another 
family of this tribe. A young man, in whose canoe I had 
embarked when coming to this country, toward the end of 
winter was seized with a contagious disease then prevailing. 
I tried to show him as much charity as he had done me evil 



63 

on the way. Being a man of some note, no kind of jugglery 
was spared to cure him. They went so far with these per- 
formances, that at last they came to tell me two dog-teeth 
had been extracted out of his body! "That is not the cause 
of his illness," said I to them, "but the corrupt blood in his 
body;" for I believed he had the pleurisy. I went to work^ 
however, to instruct him in good earnest, and the next day 
finding him well disposed, I baptized him, giving him the 
name of Ignatius, in hopes this great saint would put to 
shame the malignant spirit and the medicine-nw^n. In fact 
I had him bled, and, showing the blood to the medicine- 
man, who was present, I said to him: "See what is killing 
this man; you ought to have drawn all this corrupt blood 
from him by your grimaces and not your pretended dog- 
teeth." But the medicine-man having noticed the allevia- 
tion which the bleeding had given the patient, wished to 
claim the glory of his cure for himself. He accordingly 
made him take a kind of medicine, which had such an un- 
happy effect, that the sufferer remained as if dead for three 
hours. His death was, therefore, publicly announced 
throughout the village and the medicine-man, very much 
alarmed on account of this accident, confessed he had killed 
the poor man, and begged me not to abandon him. In fact 
he was not abandoned by his patron, St. Ignatius, who restored 
him to life in order to confound the superstitions of these 
pagans. 

Before this young man recovered, his sister was taken 
down with the same malady. We had more access to her 
for performing our holy functions, on account of the fortunate 
occurrence regarding her brother. I had a good opportunity 
to prepare her for baptism, and, besides this grace, the blessed- 
virgin, whose name she bore, obtained the recovery of her 
health. 

Scarcely was she out of danger when the prevailing dis- 
ease also seized their cousin in the same wigwam. He 
appeared to me to be more dangerously ill than the two 
others had been. Hence, I hastened to baptize him, after 
imparting the necessary instructions. The effects of this 
sacrament had already improved his condition, when his 
father concluded to make a feast, or rather to offer a sacrifice 
in honor of the sun, in order to obtain the recovery of his 
son. I surprised them in the midst of the ceremony, and^ 



64 ' 

embracing my sick neophyte, to make him understand that 
God alone is master of life and death, he repented immedi- 
ately and rendered satisfaction to God by the sacrament of 
Penance. Then addressing his father and all the medicine- 
men, I said to them: "Now I despair of the health of this sick 
man, since you have had recourse to others than to Him 
who holds life and death in his hands. You have killed this 
poor sick man by your impious performances. I no longer 
entertain any hopes of his recovery." In fact, he died some- 
time after, and I hojae God accepted his temporal death as 
a penance for his sin, so as not to deprive him of eternal life, 
which, we may trust, he obtained through the intercession 
of St. Joseph, whose name he bore. 

The gain is more secure on the part of the children, seven- 
teen of whom I baptized toward the close of this mission, 
which I was obliged to end on account of the departure of 
these people, who having reaped their Indian-corn, retired to 
their country. On leaving they invited me most urgently to 
come to their place in the following spring. May God be for- 
ever glorified by these poor people, who, at length, have 
recognized Him, they who from old did not know any divin- 
ity greater than the sun. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



On the Mission of the Ousakiouek and Outagamiouek. 

I here subjoin these two tribes successively, because they 
mingle with the preceding, being allied to them, and, besides, 
they have the same language, which is the' Algonguin, al- 
though very different in many idiomatic expressions which 
makes it hard for one to understand them. Still, after some 
efforts, they understand me at present and I them sufficiently 
to instruct them. 

The country of the Outagarai^ is southward toward the 
lake of the lUimouec (Illinois, Lake Michig an). They are a 

1 Pronounced Oo-tah-g-an-mee. The reader will And a short dissertation 
on this once most powerful tribe of Wisconsin in "Hist, and biog. notes." For 
thirty years nearly all the Outagami (Fox) tribe have lived in Tama County, 
Iowa, and in 1883, 368 was the estimate population. Tn the Indian territory a 
census of mixed Sacs and Foxes was made in 1883, and 43" was the number.— 
("Minn. Hist. Coll. vol. v. p. 33.") 



65 

populous tribe, about one thousand men carrying arms, 
hunters and warriors. They have fields of Indian-corn and 
reside in a country well adapted for hunting lynx, deer, moose 
and beaver. They are not in the habit of using canoes, but 
generally travel by land, carrying their baggage and their 
game on their shoulders. These peo'ple are as much addicted 
to idolatry as other tribes. Having one day entered the 
wigwam of an Outagami, I found his father and mother 
-dangerously sick, and, having told him that a bleeding would 
<;ure them, this poor man took some tobacco, reduced to 
powder, and threw it all over my garment, saying: "Thou 
Art a manitou; take courage, restore these sick people to 
health; I offer thee a sacrifice of this tobacco." "What are 
you doing my brother," I said to him, "I am nothing. He 
who has made all thing is the master of our lives; I am only 
his servant." "Well, then," he answered, strewing tobacco 
■on the ground and lifting up his eyes, "it is to Thee, who 
hast made heaven and earth, that I offer this tobacco; give 
health to these sick." 

These people are not far from the knowledge of the Crea- 
tor, for they are the same that told me, as related above, that 
in their country they acknowledged a great manitou, who 
made heaven and earth and who dwelt toward the country 
■of the French. It is said of them and of the Ousaki, that 
when they find a man wandering about, lost and at their 
mercy, they kill him, especially if he be a Frenchman, whose 
beard they cannot endure. This kind of cruelty renders 
them less docile and less disposed for the gospel than the 
Pouteouatami. Nevertheless I have not failed to announce 
the gospel to one hundred and twenty persons, who spent a 
-«ummer here. I did not find any one among them suffi- 
ciently disposed for baptism. I conferred it upon five of their 
:sick children, however, who afterwards recovered their health. 

As to the Ousaki^ they above all others may be called sav- 
ages. They are very numerous, but wandering about in the 
woods without any fixed abode. I have seen about two hun- 
dred of them and announced the faith to them. I baptized 
eighteen of their children, to whom the sacred waters were 
:salutary both for body and soul. 

1 Pronounced Oo-sau-kee, Sacs. It seems they were a very barbarous and 
-cruel race. It was probably by a Sac Indian that Father Menard was killed. 
See "Hist, and Biog. Notes." They were allies of the Foxes aod enemies of 
■the French. 



66 
CHAPTER XIV. 



On the Mission of the Illi.viouec or Alimouec. 

The Illimouec^ speak Algonquin, but very different from 
that of all the other (Algonquin) tribes. I understood them 
but very little, having little conversation with them.. They 
do not dwell in these quarters. Their country is more than 
sixty leagues distant southward, beyond a large river, which 
empties, as far as 1 am able to conjecture, into the ocean, towards- 
Virginia.'^ These people are hunters and are war-like. They 
use the bow and arrow, seldom a gun and never a canoe. 
They were once a populous tribe, distributed in ten large vil- 
lages, but at present the}^ are reduced to two. The continual 
wars, on the one side with the Nadouessi, on the other with 
the Iroquois have almost exterminated them. 

They acknowledge several manitous to whom they offer 
sacrifice and practice a kind of dance, quite peculiar to them- 
selves. They call it "The dance of the filling of the pipe" 
(Calumet dance), which they perform in this manner: Orna- 
menting a large pipe with plumes of feathers, they place it 
in the middle of the chosen spot, with a certain kind of ven- 
eration. One of the company arises and begins to dance, 
xthen yields his place to a second, he to a third, and so on, in 
single succession. One would take this dance for an imita- 
tion of a ballet, danced to the notes of a drum. The dancer 
goes through a sham battle, at the same time keeping tim& 
to the notes of the drum in the various positions of the body,. 
He prepares his weapons, takes off his clothes, runs about in 
search of the enemy, he discovers him, withdraws, then 
approaches; now he sounds the war-whoop, kills the enemy, 
tears off his scalp and returns, chanting the song of victory. 
All this proceeds with astonishing precision, promptitude 
and agility. After all have thus danced around the pipe, it 
is presented to the foremost man of the assembly to smoke, 
then to another, and so on successively until all have had the- 
honor. This ceremony has the same signification as when at- 

1 Pronounced ll-lee-moo-ek. the Illinois, some of whom came all the way to 
Chequamejron Bay to trade with the French and Indians. A hand ot that tribe 
resided on the Upper Fox river, not far from the site of Portage City. See 
"Hist, and Biog-. Notes.'' 

'Z Father Allouez means the Mississippi, the course of which river was at 
that time unknown, hence Marquette's voyage in 1673. 



67 

a social gathering in France all drink successively out of one 
and the same glass. The pipe, moreover, is left in the hands 
of the chief of the tribe, as a sacred deposit and an assured 
guarantee of the peace and union which shall always exist 
between them as long as this pipe — the calumet of peace — 
remains in his possession. 

Among all the manitous to whom they offer sacrifice, 
special worship is paid to one particular manitou more ex- 
cellent, they say, than all the rest, because it is he who made 
all things. They have an intense desire to see this greatest 
of all manitous, and hence they observe long fasts, hoping 
to obtain by this means, that God will show himself to them 
during their sleep. If it happen that they see him (as they 
imagine) they consider themselves lucky, and promise them- 
selves a long life. 

All these tribes of the South have this same desire to see 
God, which is doubtless of great advantage to promote their 
conversion, for all that remains to be done is to instruct them, 
as to the manner in which we are to serve him, in order to 
see him and be happy. 

I have here announced the name of Jesus Christ to eighty 
persons of this tribe, and they have carried and published 
it to all the country of the South, with applause, so that I 
can say on this mission I have worked the least and pro- 
duced the greatest effect. These pagans honor our Lord,. 
whose picture I gave them, in their own peculiar way. Having: 
exposed the sacred image in the most conspicuous place,, 
they prepare a great feast, and the master of this banquet,, 
addressing the image, says: "It is in thy honor, God- 
man, that we make this feast; it is to Thee we offer these 
viands." 

Among these people, it appears to me, there is the most, 
beautiful field for the Gospel. If I had had leisure and con- 
venience, I would have gone to their place of abode, to see,, 
with my own eyes, all the good that is told of them. 

I find those with whom I have had intercourse, to be 
affable and humane. It is said, when they meet a stranger, 
they raise a cry of joy, caress him, and render him every 
proof of friendship of which they are capable. I have bap- 
tized but one infant of this tribe. The seeds of faith that I 
have sown in their souls will yield fruits when it shall please 
the Master of the vineyard to gather them. Their country 



68 

is hot and they raise corn twice a year. There are rattle- 
snakes there, which are often the cause of death, as these 
people do not know of any antidote. They have a high 
estimate of medicines, offering them sacrifices, as to great 
manitous. They have no forests in their country, but very 
large prairies on which wild cattle, deer, bears and other ani- 
mals feed in great numbers. 



CHAPTER XV. 



On the Mission of the Nadouessiouek.^ 

They are people living westward from these quarters, 
towards the large river called Messipi. They are about forty 
or fifty leagues distant in a prairie-country abounding in all 
kinds of game. They have fields in which they do not plant 
Indian corn, but tobacco only. Providence has supplied them 
with a kind of marsh rye (wild rice) which th^ go and 
gather towards the end of summer in certain small lakes, 
where it grows abundantly. They know so well how to 
prepare it, that it is very agreeable to the taste and very 
nourishing. They offered me some, when I was at the 
extremity of Lake Tracy, where I saw them. They do not 
use guns, but only the bow and arrow with which they shoot 
very dexterously. Their cabins are not covered with bark, 
but with deer-skins, well-dressed, and sewed so nicely that 
the cold cannot penetrate. These people, above all others are 
■savage and ferocious. They appear dunifounded in our pres- 
■eftce, like statues. They do not cease to be warlike, having 
waged war with their neighbors, by whom they are very 
much feared. They speak an altogether strange language. 
The Indians here do not understand them ; hence 1 was 
obliged to sj^eak to them by an interpreter, who, being a pagan, 
did not do what I would have wished (that is, he did not 
interpret well what the Father said.) I have not failed to 
take from the devil one innocent soul of that country. 
It was a little child that went to paradise shortly after I 
baptized it. "^ so^is ortio usque ad occasum laudahile nomen 
Domini.'" God will give us an opportunity to announce 

1 See "Hist, and Biog. Notes," where the reader will find an account of 
this most warlike tribe, "The Iroquois of the West." 



69 

his name in that country, when it shall please his -Divine 
Majesty to show mercy to those people; they are almost at 
the end of the earth so to speak. Farther on, towards sun- 
set, there are other tribes called Karesi, beyond whose coun- 
try, they say, the land comes to an end, and nothing is seen 
but a large lake, the waters of which are stinking; it is thu& 
they speak of the sea. 

Between north and west there is a tribe that eat raw meat^ 
contenting themselves with holding it to the fire in their 
hands. Beyond the country of this people lies the sea of the 
north. Moreover in that direction are the Kilistinons, whose 
rivers empty into the Bay of Hudson. We have knowledge,, 
besides, of the Indians who inhabit the regions of the south 
as far as the sea. So there remains only a small tract of land,, 
and only a few tribes, to whom the gospel has not been 
announced, as yet, if we can believe what the Indians have 
told us several times in regard to these matters. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



On the Mission of the Kilistinons^ and that of Outchi- 

BOUEC.^ 

The Kilistinons have their more ordinary place of abode 
in the vicinity of the Sea of the North. They navigate a river 
that empties into a large bay, which we suppose very proba- 
bly to be that marked on the map with the name of Hudson; 
for those that I have seen from that country have told me 
they have knowledge of a ship, and an old man amongst oth- 
ers, told me he had seen it himself at the entrance of the river 
of the Assinipoualac,^ a tribe allied with the Kilistinons, 
whose country is still more towards the north. 

He told me, besides, that he had seen a house that Europeans 
had built on the mainland of boards and pieces of wood; that 

1 Kilistinons, sometimes also called Kenisteno, are Indians in British 
America, now generally called Crees. See " Hist, and Biog-. Notes." 

3 Pronounced Oo-chee-boo-ek— Chippewas. They were once a large and 
warlike tribe, the deadly foes of the Sioux and Foxes, but always friendly to 
the French, who freely intermarried with them; hence the many half-breeds 
with French names. See " Hist, etc." 

3 The Assineboines, from "Assin," a stone— and " Boines" or "Eboines" 
a corruption of " Bwan"— Sioux. 



70 

■they held books in their hands, such as the one he saw me 
have, when telling me this. He spoke to me of another 
tribe, adjoining that of the Assinipoualac, who eat people, 
and live only on raw meat, but they themselves are eaten by 
bears of a horrible size, all red, which have prodigiously long 
■claws; it is considered probable they are lions. 

As to the Kilistinons, they appear to me extremely docile 
and of a good, kind disposition, not common among these 
savages. They are more nomadic than all the other tribes. 
They have no fixed abode, no (cultivated) fields nor villages. 
They only live of hunting aod a little oats (wild rice) which 
they gather in swampy places. They are'worshippers of the 
sun, to which they generally offer sacrifice, attaching a dog 
to the top of a pole, which they leave hanging there until 
he rots. 

They speak almost the same language as the tribe formerly 
called Poissons-blanc — White Fish — and the Indians of Ta- 
doussac. God gave me the grace to understand them and to 
be sufficiently understood by them for their instruction. They 
had never heard of the faith, and the novelty of the thing 
as also their docility of mind caused them to listen to me 
with very great attention. They have promised me to 
worship only Him who is the Creator of the sun and of the 
world. The wandering life they lead made me postpone the 
baptism of those whom I saw (otherwise) very well disposed 
and I only conferred this sacrement upon a little girl lately 
born. 

I hope this mission will some day produce fruit in pro- 
portion to the labor which will be bestowed upon it, when 
our fathers will go and winter with them, as they do at 
Quebec with the Indians of Tadoussac. They invited me to 
do so, but I cannot devote myself entirely to one tribe and 
deprive so many others of the assistance I owe them, as they 
are nearest this place and best prepared for the gospel. 

On the mission of the Outchibouec — the French call them 
"Saulteurs," because their country is the "Sault," by which 
Lake Tracy (Superior) empties into the Lake of the Hurons. 
They speak the ordinary Algonquin and are easily under- 
stood. I have preached the faith to them, on difierent occa- 
sions, when I met with them, but especially at the extremity 
of our great lake, where I stopped with them a whole month, 
during which I instructed them in all our mysteries and 



71 

baptized twenty of their children, as also one sick adult, who 
-died the day after his baptism, carrying to heaven the first 
fruits of his nation. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



'On the Mission of the Nipissirin'iens and op the Voyage 
OP Father Allouez to Lake Alimibegong (Nepigon) . 

The Nipissiriniens were formerly instructed by our fathers, 
"who dwelt in the country of the Hurons. These poor peo- 
ple, of whom great numbers were Christians, have been 
compelled on account of the incursions of the Iroquois to 
flee as far as Lake Alimibegong, which is but fifty or sixty 
leagues fron the Sea of the North (Hudson Bay). 

For almost twenty years they have not seen a pastor, nor 
heard speak of God. I thought I owed a part of my labors 
to this old mission, trusting that a voyage I would make to 
their new home, would be followed by the blessings of heaven. 

On the I6th day of May of this year, 1667, I embarked 
in a canoe with two Indians, Avho were to serve me as guides 
during the whole of this voyage. Having met on our way 
some forty Indians from the Bay of the North, I imparted 
to them the first tidings of the faith, for which they thanked 
me with some show of politeness. 

Continuing our voyage, on the 17th we crossed over a part 
•of our great lake^ (Superior) paddling for twelve hours with- 
out intermission. God assisted me very sensibly; for there 
being but three in our canoe, I had to paddle with all my 
strength, together with the Indians, in order not to lose any 
time of the calm, without which we would be in great danger, 
being all of us tired out with the exertion and hunger. Not- 
withstanding all this, we lay down to sleep without supper, 
«,nd the next day we contented ourselves with a meagre re- 
past of Indian-corn and water; for the wind and rain pre- 
vented our Indians from casting their nets. 



1 Pather Allouez left his mission at the head of Chequames'on Bay on the 
16th of May, and on the 17th crossed the lake, probably starting from Sand 
Island. As it took them twelve hours hard paddling to reach the North Shore, 
we may safely conclude that the lake must be some forty miles wide where 
they crossed; a risky undertaking in a frail birch bark canoe! 



72 

On the 19th, the fine weather being inviting, we made- 
eighteen leagues, rowing from day-break until after sun- 
down without stopping or disembarking. 

On the 20th, having found nothing in our nets, we con- 
tinued our way, grinding some grains of dry corn with our 
teeth. The next day (21st) God refreshed us with two small 
fishes, which gave us a little life. The benediction of heaven 
was multiplied the following day (22d), for our Indians took 
such a lucky draught of sturgeon, that they were obliged to 
leave some of them on the beach. 

On the 23d, coasting along the shores of this great lake, on 
the north side we proceeded from island to island, for these 
are very numerous. There is one of them at least twenty 
leagues long, where pieces of ore are found, considered by 
the French to be true red copper, they having tested its 
quality. 

After traveling a long distance on the lake (from ]6th-25th 
of May), we finally left it on the 25th of this month of May^ 
and entered a river full of rapids and falls, so, very numer- 
ous that even our Indians could not proceed any farther. 
Having learned that Lake Alimibegong was still frozen, they 
willingly took a rest of two days, to which they were com- 
pelled by necessity. 

While we were advancing toward our destination, we from 
time to time met Nipissirinien Indians, who had strayed 
away from the place of their habitation, to seek a living in 
the woods. Having assembled quite a numl5er of them for 
the feast of Pentecost, I prepared them, by a long instruction^ 
to understand the holy sacrifice of the mass which I cele- 
brated in a chapel constructed of green boughs. They heard 
it with as great piety and gravity as our Indians of Quebec 
do in our chapel at Sillery. This gave me the sweetest re- 
freshment I had during this voyage, and consoled me 
abundantly for all past hardships. 

I must here relate a remarkable thing, that happened not 
long ago. Two women, a mother and her daughter, after be- 
ing instructed in the faith, have always had recourse to God 
and have continually received extraordinary help from Him» 
Recently they again experienced that God never abandons 
those who confide in Him. They had been captured by the 
Iroquois and had luckily escaped the fire and cruelties of 
those savages. But shortly afterwards they fell into their 



73 

hands a second time, so that no hope of further escape could 
be entertained. However, seeing themselves alone one day, 
with a single Iroquois Indian who had remained to guard 
them, whilst the others were gone to hunt, the daughter said 
to her mother: "Now is the time to rid ourselves of this 
guard and flee." So she asked the Iroquois for a knife to 
work at a beaver-skin which she had been ordered to dress. 
Hereupon having implored the help of Heaven, she plunged 
the knife into the bosom of the Iroquois, and her mother 
struck him on the head with a stick of wood. Leaving him 
a corpse, according to all appearance, they took some pro- 
visions and hastened on their way to their own country, 
which they finally reached in safety. 

We were six days traveling from island to island, seeking 
for a passage, and, finally, after many turns, we arrived at 
the village of the iSTipissiriniens on the 3d of June, It is 
chiefly inhabited by idolatrous Indians and some Christians 
of former time. Amongst others, I found twenty persons 
who made public profession of Christianity. I was not in 
want of employment among both the one and the other 
party, during the fifteen days that we stayed with them, and 
I labored as much as my health, ruined by the hardships of 
the voyage, allowed me. I found more opposition there to 
baptizing their children than anywhere else; but the more 
opposition the devil makes, the more should we try to con- 
found him. I think he does not at all like to see me making 
this last voyage, which is about rive hundred leagues, going 
and returning, including the turns out of the way , which we 
were obliged to make. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



Father Allouez Goes to Quebec — He Returns to the 
outaouacs. 

During the two years that Father Allouez has dwelt with 
the Outaouacs, he has become acquainted with the customs 
of all the tribes he has seen, and has carefully studied the 
means to facilitate their conversion. There is work there for 
a good number of missionaries, but nothing to support them. 
The Indians live part of the year on the bark of trees, 



74 

another part on ground fish-bones, and the rest of the time 
on fish or Indian-corn, sometimes having only a little of the 
one or the other, at other times enough. The Father has 
learned from experience that even a brazen constitution could 
not hold out amid continual labors and hardships so great, 
with nourishment so very scanty; therefore he considers it 
necessary to have at those places men ot courage and piety, 
to work for the support of the missionaries, either by culti- 
vating the land, or by industrious fishing and hunting. 
They are to build dwelling-houses and erect chapels, in order 
to astonish those Indians who have never seen anything 
more beautiful than their bark wigwams. 

With this view the Father determined to go to Quebec 
himself in order to promote the execution of these designs. 

He arrived there on the 3d day of August of this year, 
1667. Having stopped there only two days, he arranged 
matters with diligence so great that he was ready to depart 
from Montreal with twenty canoes of Indians, with whom he 
had come, and who awaited him at that island with great 
impatience. 

His attendance consisted of seven persons, namely, him- 
self and Father Louis Nicolas, to labor conjointly for the 
conversion of these people, and one of our brothers, together 
with four men to work for the support of the missionaries. 
But God willed not the success of this undertaking; for, 
when about to embark, the Indians were in such ill humor 
that only the fathers and one of their men could find place 
in their canoes. But so unprovided are they with provisions, 
clothes and all the other necessaries of life, which indeed they 
had in readiness, but which could not be taken on board, 
that there is good reason to doubt whether they can reach the 
country to which they are bound, or whether, after arriving 
there, they can subsist long. 



75 
CHAPTER XIX. 

*0n the Mission op the Holy Ghost Amongst the Ou- 

TAOUACS. 

" It is not necessary to repeat the enumeration of all the 
"missionary stations dependant upon this mission, of each 
•one of which was spoken of in the last "Relation."^ Suffice 
•it to say that labors, famine, want of all things, bad treat- 
ment on the part of the savages, ridicule from the idolators 
— such are the most precious lot of those missions. 

Since these people, for the greater part, have never had an)'- 
•intercourse with Europeans, it is difficult to imagine the 
-excess of insolence to which their barbarism impels them, and 
the patience one must be armed with to bear such treatment. 

It is necessary to deal with twenty or thirty tribes, differ- 
ing in language, manners, and policy. All must be endured 
from their bad humor and brutality, in order to gain them 
by sweetness and affection. It is necessary in a measure to 
make oneself an Indian with those Indians : to subsist some- 
times on a kind of moss which grows on rocks, at other times 
■on pulverized fish bones which take the place of flour — occa- 
•sionally on nothing at all, passing three or four days without eat- 
ing, like the Indians themselves, whose stomachs are accus- 
tomed to such hardships of starvation ; but they, without 
incommoding themselves, can eat enough in one day for 
■ eight, when they have an abundance of game or fish. Fathers 
'Claude Allouez and Louis Nicolas have passed through these 
trials, and if penaiice and mortification contribute much to- 
wards the conversion of souls, they assuredly lead a life more 
; austere than that ot the greatest penitents of Thebaide, and 
yet do not cease to devote themselves indefatigably to their 
apostolic functions — to baptize children, instruct adults, con- 
sole the sick and prepare them for heaven, to overthrow 
idolatry and make the sound of their word heard in this 
extreme end of the world. 

Father Marquette* has gone to render assistance, together 
with Brother Louis le Boeme, and we hope the sweat of these 

1 Relation of 1668, pp. 31, 32. 

3 Marquette went as f ai' as Sault Ste. Marie in 1668 and took charge of the 
Indians assembled there until late in the summer of the foilowing: year. He 
arrived at the head of Chequamegoa Bay Sept. 13th, 1669. See a short sketch 
<ot his life in " Hist, and Bios. Notes." 



76 

generous missionaries bedewing those lands will render them 
fertile for heaven. They have baptized within a year eighty 
children, of whom many are in paradise. It is this that 
assuages all their sufferings and fortifies them to undergo all 
the labors of that mission. 

Providence, moreover, permits them to taste sweet conso- 
lation when Indians get sick unto death, whom they then 
prepare for eternal life. 

This is what haj^pened in the person of one of the fore- 
most men of those peoj)le, who, having been baptized several 
years ago, had no fixed dwelling place, but leading a nomadic 
life, roamed throughout those great forests from end to end,, 
over five or six hundred leagues of country. Nevertheless 
God so well directed the last year of his life that, contrary to 
his custom, he resolved to spend the winter near the resi- 
dence of Father Allouez, no doubt through a presentiment of 
his happiness, in order to be assisted in his last sickness by 
this good Father, who did not fail to attend this poor old 
man. When he was at the point of death, he prepared a 
farewell feast for a great assembly which had been convoked 
for that purpose from different tribes. This was done to keep 
up a custom of theirs, of which he made good use in the 
interests of faith. He addressed this multitude in a dying 
voice it is true, but in the tone of a chief and in energetic 
words, declaring that he had long lived a Christian, and, in; 
dying a Christian, he felt assured of gaining the eternal happi- 
ness promised to all believers ; but that they who were not 
willing to hear the word of God would be tormented by 
demons after death more cruelly, beyond comparison, than 
an Iroquois is tortured who has fallen into their hands; that 
for the rest, he died willingly in the hope of paradise, and 
admonished them, if they were wise, to defer no longer to 
follow his example. After these words, dictated by the love 
he had for his countrymen, he thought in good earnest of 
himself, and, having confessed as often as four times, he gave 
up his soul, leaving us every reason to believe that God had 
shown him mercy. 

Other examples of a similar nature might be related to 
show the ways of divine Providence for the salvation of His 
elect. For us it remains , to cooperate faithfully Avith this 
great work and to go in search of those straying sheep, how- 
ever far away they may happen to be and whatever trouble- 



77 

it may cost us; too happy shall we be to consume our lives 
in this good work. 

Some of these tribes, it is true, have appeared at our set- 
tlements (on the St. Lawrence) this summer (of 1668) to the 
number of more than six hundred, but this was like a mere 
streak of lightning, to carry on their little trafSc with our 
French people, and such a time is not suitable to instruct 
them. It is necessary therefore to follow them to their homes 
and accommodate oneself to their ways, however ridiculous 
they may seem, in order to draw them to our way of think- 
ing and acting. And as God made himself man in order, as 
it were, to make gods of men, so a missionary does not fear 
to make himself, so to say, an Indian with the Indians, in 
order to make them Christians : ^'Omnibus omnia f actus srmi." 
"I have become all to all." 



CHAPTER XX. 



On the Mission of La Pointe du Saint Esprit in the Country 
OF the Algonquin Outaouacs. 

"^The mission of the Outaouacs is at present one of the 
most beautiful of New France. The want of all things, the 
brutal character of the Indians there, its remoteness of three 
or four hundred leagues, the number of tribes there, and the 
promise recently made to Father Allouez, that a whole tribe 
wo aid embrace the Christian faith, after holding a general 
council; all those things awaken a most ardent desire for that 
mission in the hearts of all our missionaries. 

Father Allouez having come down to Quebec this year^ 
(1669) in order to hand over to Monsieur de Courcelles the 
captive Iroquois, whom of his own accord he had redeemed 
from the Outaouacs, and to ask assistance from our Fathers, 
the lot happily fell upon Father Claude Dablon, who has 
been sent to be the Superior of all those upper missions, and 
this, notwithstanding the great amount of good he effected 
here and the pressing need they had of his services. 

1 Relation of 1668 p. 17-20, See "Hist, and biog. notes" for short notice on 
Father Claude Dablon. 

2 After this second voyage of Father Allouez to Quebec, in 1669, he did not 
return to his mission at the head of Chequamegon Bay, but, after arriving at 
Sault Ste Marie, he remained there till Nov. bd, when he departed for the Bay 
<of the Puants (Green Bay), where he arrived on the 2d of Dec. 1669. 



78 

The first settlement to be met with, of those upper tribes,, 
who are almost all Algonquins, is the Sault, more than two 
hundred leagues from Quebec. It is there our missionaries 
have fixed their abode, it being the most convenient place 
for their Apostolic labors, as the other tribes are in the habit 
of going there, for several years since, in order thence to pro- 
ceed to Montreal or Quebec, to trade. The missionaries 
have located at the foot of the rapids of the river on the 
south side, about the 46th degree of latitude. It is a good 
thing the cold is not as great there as here, although we are^ 
almost in the same degree of latitude. 

Another place, one hundred and fifty leagues from the 
Sault, which has been particularly chosea for preaching the 
gospel, is called La Pointe du Saint Esprit. The occasion of 
establishing that mission was the Iroquois war, which drove 
the greater part of the Indians of the upper country from 
their native land and induced them to assemble there. Father 
Allouez found this great number of tribes in one village, and 
he took advantage of this flight which had brought together 
so many people and which divine Providence had thus ar- 
ranged for him, to announce our mysteries to these tribes, 
and thus justify the divine word; there being no place so 
remote in this New World, wherein this Father has not tried 
to make the gospel heard. 

God has found some elect amongst every tribe during the 
time in which the fear of the Iroquois kept them assembled 
there (at La Pointe du Saint Esprit). But, finally, the danger 
having passed, each tribe returned to its country; some to 
the Bay of the Puants (Green Bay), others to the Sault, 
where our missionaries have determined henceforth to make 
their headquarters. The rest have remained at La Pointe du 
Saint Esprit. It is designed to build three Churches in these 
three principal jalaces of this extreme end of the world. Two 
in fact, are alread}^ erected, namely, the one at La Pointe du 
S'aint Esprit and the other at the Sault. Father Allouez is 
preparing himself to go to the Bay of the Puants on his re- 
turn from Quebec, there to establish the third Church. 

Never did the gospel have a more beautiful opening in 
that country and nothing is wanting there at present, except 
laborers; for the harvest is as abundant as it can be. The- 
Iroquois tribe, to whom three of their captive countrymen 
have been restored and to whom the rest are also to be sur- 



79 

rendered, will be very glad to keep peace "with the Outa- 
ouacs, as they are at war with the Mohikans^ and Andastogues. 
They even write to us from Montreal that the Onnontague- 
ronnons will next spring go to the Sault, as embassadors, to 
confirm the peace by presents. Thus the way will be open 
to French commerce and gospel-laborers. Still, those people 
being of a very changeable mind, we have always reason to 
fear that peace will not be of long duration. 

As La Pointe du Saint Esprit has until now (1669) 
been the seat of all those upper missions, I am about to 
speak of the progress of the Gospel and the establishment of 
the kingdom of God in that place. I must not omit, how- 
ever, to speak at the same time, of the great obstacles that 
are encountered there. 

The dissimulation, which is natural to those Indians, and 
a certain deferential disposition, with which children in that 
country are brought up, induce them to approve (apparently) 
of all that is said to them, and prevents them from ever con- 
tradicting the sentiments of others, even when they know 
that- the statements made to them are false. To this dis- 
simulation must be added obstinacy in adhering to their 
own ideas and desires. This obliges our Fathers not to 
receive adults for baptism very readily, who, moreover^ 
have been raised in idolatry and libertinism. 

"But, finally, God gave me to understand, after many 
trials," says Father Allouez in his journal and in one of his 
letters, written from the Sault on the 6th of .June, 1669, ''that 
it has pleased his Divine Majesty to show mercy to a par- 
ticular tribe, the whole of which is desirous to embrace the 
Christian faith. This tribe, called Queues Coupees (or Kis- 
kakong), is one of the most populous — a peaceable tribe, an 
enemy of war. Otherwise, these people are so inclined to 
raillery, however, that they have hitherto ridiculed our faith, 
as if it were mere children's play. They received their first 
knowledge of the Gospel at the great Lake Huron, their real 
country, at the time our Fathers were there. They were sub- 
sequently instructed in their present place of abode (Lake 
Superior country) by the aged Father Menard; and these 

1 Mohikan, Mohegan. Chippewa "Ma-in-gan" Wolf, one of the "Six Nations" 
of New York, so called because the wolf was their totem, as the bear was 
that of the Mohawks. The Stockbridg-e Indians of Wisconsin claim to be de- 
scendants of the ancient Mohikans, or Mo-he-kun-nucks. 



80 

instructions were finally continued by Father AUouez during 
the two or three years that he dwelt with them (at La 
Pointe du Saint Esprit). They did not, however, embrace 
the faith until last summer, when the sachems of the tribe 
harangued in its favor in their wigwams and at their councils 
and feasts. 

" It is this," says Father Allouez, "that obliged me to pass 
the winter with them at La Pointe du Saint Esprit, in order 
to instruct them. In the beginning, having been called to 
one of their councils, I acquainted them with the news 'that 
two Frenchmen had just brought me, telling them that, after 
all, I saw myself obliged to leave them and go to the Sault, 
because during the three years I had been with them, they 
would not embrace our holy faith, there being only children 
and some women who were Christians. I declared, besides, 
that I would leave the place at this very hour, and would 
shake the dust off my shoes. In fact, I took off my shoes 
and did so in their presence, to show them that I was about 
to leave them altogether, not wishing to carry anything of 
theirs with me, not even the dust that sticks to my shoes. I 
informed them, moreover, that the Indians at the Sault had 
called me, wishing to become Christians, and that I was 
going to them, in order to instruct them ; but if they in some 
years did not become Christians, I would treat those at the 
Sault in the same manner. 

During the whole of this discourse I read in their coun- 
tenances the fear I had awakened in their hearts. Leaving 
them to deliberate, I withdrew immediately, resolved on go- 
ing to the Sault. But an accident having detained me 
through a special providence of God, I soon witnessed the 
change effected in them, a change which can only be attrib- 
uted to an extraordinary stroke of grace. With unanimous 
consent they abolished polygamy, as also the sacrifices they 
had been in the habit of offering to their manitous, refusing, 
moreover, to attend any of the superstitious performances 
practiced by the other tribes in the neighborhood. In a 
word they showed a fervor similar to that of the primitive 
Christians and a very great assiduity in all the duties of true 
believers. They have all come to live near our chapel, in 
order to make it easier for their wives and children to attend 
the instructions given them, and not to lose a day without 
going to the church to pray to God. 



81 

This, in general, is the state of the mission of La Pointe du 
'Saint Esprit. I shall now relate in detail some of the most 
remarkable conversions. An old man, who died on Christ- 
mas-day, after having been prepared for death, will make the 
beginning. 

The Indians told Father Allouez that, after his baptism, 
this old man had a vision of two roads, one of which led up- 
wards, the other downwards. He had taken the one leading 
upwards, as he told them himself, but he had great trouble 
to follow it, as it was very narrow and rugged. The down- 
ward road, he said, was very wide and beaten, the same as a 
'trail going from one Indian village to another. 

I cannot in silence pass over the baptism of the first adult 
•of that tribe. As he was their chief, a man of intelligence 
and fit for Christianity, he was the first one to harangue in 
favor of the Christian religion publicly, saying the mysteries 
preached to them were true, and that he, for one, had resolved 
to obey the Father. His name was Kekakoung. This holy 
liberty of speech in favor of the faith has stirred up all of 
them, and moved them to receive the Gospel. 

A certain man of sixty years did not have much difficulty 
in becoming a Christian. He told Father Allouez that during 
all his life he had recognized a great manitou who in himself 
■contained heaven and earth ; that he had always invoked 
Him in all his sacrifices, and that in pressing necessities he 
had received help from Him. He received the name of Jo- 
seph in baptism. 

The example of another old man confirms the same thing. 
With deep sentiments of gratitude towards this sovereign 
manitou who preserved him, he relates that, when leaving 
their country, these Indians were obliged to flee on the ice of 
the great lake of the Hurons in order to escape the Iroquois 
and starvation, which followed them everywhere. They had 
no provisions and only nourished their families with fish, 
which they speared every day under the ice. Now, it hap- 
pened that sixty of their people, wandering about on the ice 
seeking for something to eat, were carried away on a large 
field of ice which had become detached by the violence of. 
the wind. More than one-half of them died of hunger or 
-cold, but this old man was preserved on his cake of floating 
ice for a«space of thirty days, and finally he managed to get 
on another field of ice, and thence to reach land, being unable 



82 

sufficiently to thank that manitou more powerful than fam- 
ine, cold, ice, winds and tempests, to whom he had addressed 
his prayers. 

When he heard God spoken of for the first time, he recog-- 
nized at once that that was the powerful manitou who had 
preserved him, and he determined henceforth to ohey him 
in all things. 

Finally, Father Allouez relates in his journal, that another 
man of the same age could not contain his astonishment that 
he had lived so long without the knowledge of the true God. 
Oftentimes when being instructed, he would say: "Is it pos- 
sible that we old men, who have a little understanding, have 
so long been so blind as to take for divinities such things as 
every day serve for our use ? '' One hundred persons of this 
tribe, partly adults, partly children, have already received 
baptism. As to the Hurons, who had fled to this country (La 
Pointe du Saint Esprit), thirty-eight have been baptized. It is 
calculated, moreover, that there are more than one hundred 
persons of the other tribes to whom baptism has been given. 

A woman forty-four years of age, showing great constancy 
and a singular love for our holy faith, has finally received 
baptism. The continual occasion of sin to which she was 
exposed, and the persecutions she sufiered on account of her 
beauty, made us at first fear to give her baptism; but her 
generous behavior (under these trials) merited this grace,, 
for her. She, moreover, declares publicly that she will never 
marry. She was confirmed in this resolution by what she 
had once heard from Father Allouez concerning the virgin- 
ity of the Blessed Virgin, as also the vow of chastity that 
women in religious orders make. She has returned to her 
country with this holy thought in her mind, where she will 
have the Holy Ghost for her sole director, until it shall 
please God to send there some missionary. 

Father Marquette writes to us from the Sault that the har- 
vest there is very abundant, and that it only depends upon 
the missionaries to baptize all that are there, to the number 
of two thousand. But thus far they have not ventured to- 
trust those people, since they are too complaisant of dispo- 
sition, so that there is reason to fear that they might continue 
their ordinary superstitious practices even after baptism. The- 
missionaries apply themselves, above all, to instruct thevcu. 
and to baptize the dying, who are a more secure harvest. 



83 
CHAPTER XXI. 



On the Mission Among the Outaouacs and Especially 
OF the Mission Sault Sainte Marie. 

We^ call those tribes Upper Algonquins to distinguish 
them from the Lower Algonquins, who are found farther 
south, in the neighborhood of Tadoussac and Quebec. 

They are commonly called Outaouacs, because of the thirty 
different tribes that are found in those countries, the first 
that came down to our French settlements were the Outa- 
ouacs, whose name, since that time, has remained common 
to all the others. 

As we have a large number of different tribes to attend, 
scattered over a large tract of country, we have divided them 
into three principal missions, each of which are subdivided 
into several particular missionary stations, according to the 
diversity of language and tribe, all of which are connected 
with these three principal missions. 

The first of these missions, which is the central for the 
others, is called Sainte Marie du Sault, located at the foot of 
the rapids which receive their waters from Lake Tracy, or 
Superior, and discharge them into Lake Huron. 

The second mission, which is the furthest distant, is that 
of the Holy Ghost, towards the extremity of said Lake 
Superior, in a place which the Indians call La Pointe de 
Chagaouamigong . 

The third bears the name of St. Francis Xavier,^ at the 
head of the Bay called that of the Puants, which is only 
separated by a tongue of land from Lake Superior. 

When speaking of each of these three missions in par- 
ticular we shall take occasion to say something about the 
peculiarities and curiosities to be met with in the places at. 
which they are established. 

1 Relation of 1670, pp. 78, 80. 

2 See "Hist, and Biog. Notes" for a short sketch of the Green Bay Mission- 



84 
CHAPTER XXII. 



'On the Nature and Peculiarities op the Sault and op 
THE Tribes who are in the habit op going there. 

What is commonly called the Sault is not, properly speak- 
ing, a Sault, or a very high fall of water, but a very strong 
•current of the waters of Lake Superior, which are arrested in 
their onward course, through the channel, by a great number 
of rocks (in the bed of the river) opposing their passage and 
forming a dangerous cataract of half a league, all of these 
waters flowing down and precipitating themselves upon one 
another and upon the large rocks, which obstruct the whole 
river. 

Three leagues below Lake Superior and twelve leagues 
above the Lake of the Hurons ; all this space forms a beau- 
tiful river, intersected with several islands, which divide the 
river and enlarge it in some places beyond sight. It flows 
very gently nearly everywhere, the only place hard to get 
over being the Sault. 

At the lower end of these rapids, and even amongst the 
eddies, a great fishery is carried on, from spring till winter, 
of a species of fish which is generally only found in Lakes 
Superior and Huron. They call them in their language, 
Atticameg and we, in ours, white fish, because this fish is 
truly very white and, moreover, very excellent. Henee it 
forms almost exclusively the food of the greater part of those 
tribes. 

Dexterity and strength are necessary for this kind of fish- 
-ery ; for tbose who catch them must stand up in a bark canoe 
and there, among the rapids, push down a pole to the bottom 
of the water, to the end of which a net is attached in the 
shape of a pocket, into which the fish are made to enter. The 
fish must be discovered by eye-sight, when they are gliding 
among the stones in the bed of the river. Having discovered 
them, the fisherman has to pursue them and, having forced 
them to enter the net, with great effort lifts them into the 
canoe. This performance is repeated at each draught, until 
he has secured a load, six or seven large fishes being taken 
each time. 



85 

Not everybody is fit for this kind of fishing, and occasion- 
ally there are some, who by the efforts they are obliged to 
make, upset the canoe, not having sufficient dexterity and 
experience. 

It is this convenience of having fish in such abundance, 
as only to go and haul them out, that attracts the neighbor- 
ing tribes hither during the summer, who, being nomadic, 
without fields and without corn, and living mostly on fish,, 
here find what they want. At the same time the mission- 
aries make use of the opportunity thus offered, to instruct 
and train them in the Christian religion, during their sojourn 
in this place. 

This has induced us to establish a permanent mission 
here which we call Sainte Marie du Sault,^ and which is the 
central to the others, as we here find ourselves surrounded 
by different tribes, of whom the following belong here, com- 
ing here, as they do, to live on fish : 

The first, and at the same time, the native inhabitants of 
this place are the people that call themselves Patouiting- 
wach Irini (Bawiting dajiinini — " a man of Bawiting ")• 
The French call them Saulteurs, because they dwell at the 
Sault as in their own country, the other tribes only living 
there, as it were, by permission. They number no more 
than one hundred and fifty souls, but they are consol- 
idated with three other tribes, numbering more than five 
hundred and fifty persons, to whom they have made a 
cession as it were, of the rights of their native country; 
hence these three tribes reside there permanently, except 
during the time in which they go hunting. Those called 
Noquets" go hunting on the south side of Lake Superior, 
where they originally belonged. The Outchibous^ and the 
Marameg* hunt on the north side of the same lake, which 
country they look upon as their own. 

1 This mission was located at the foot of the rapids, nine miles below the 
mouth of Lake Superioi-, on the American side of the river. The church and 
mission house were destroyed by fire Jan. 37th, 1671 — the work, it seems, of a 
Pagan incendiary. Soon a far more beautiful chapel was erected. 

3 Noquets, from no-ka. "The No-ka or Bear family are more numerous 
than any of the other clans of the Ojibways, forming fully one-sixth of the en- 
tire tribe." (Wm. W. Warren, in Minn. Hist. Col. vol. v. pp. 49.) 

3 Outchibous, called also Outchibouec, now the generic name of the whole 
Chippewa nation. 

4 Marameg, the French of Ma-nam-aig, "catfish," who have the catfish for 
their totem. They ai-e a subdivision of the great A-waus-e clan, to which 
fully one-ninth of the Chipewa nation belongs. 



86 

Besides these four, there are seven other tribes dependant 
•on this mission. Those called Achiligouiane,^ Amicou- 
res,* and the Mississague^ fish here (at the Sault), but go 
hunting on the islands and in the country around Lake 
Huron. They number more than four hundred souls. 

Two other tribes to the number of five hundred souls, 
altogether nomadic, without any fixed dwelling place, go 
toward the northern country, to hunt during winter, and 
come here to fish during summer. 

There are still six other tribes, who are either people of 
the Sea of the North, as for instance, the Guilistinons* and 
.the Ouenibigong,^ or such as are roaming about in the 
neighborhood of this same Sea of the North, the greater part 
of whom having been driven from their country by famine, 
come here, from time to time, to enjoy the abundance of 
fish found here. 

Two reasons, among others, have made us resolve to un- 
dertake a voyage as far as to this Sea of the North. The 
first is to see in what manner we can promote the conver- 
sion of those tribes, notwithstanding the great obstacles to 
this work, considering their mode of living, roaming about 
as they do, continually through gloomy forests, and assem- 
bling but rarely for some fair or feast, according to their 
custom. 

The second reason for this voyage is to examine, at length, 
this Sea of the North, of which so much has been said and 
which thus far has not been discovered overland. 

The motives for seeking to make this discovery are, in the 
first place, to ascertain whether this sea is the bay to which 
Hudson penetrated in the year 1612, or some other, by com- 
paring the longitude and latitude of that place with those of 
this sea, and then to find out which part of the sea of the 
North is nearest to us. Secondly, in order to know whether 
there be any communication from Quebec to this sea by 



1 Achiligouiane— of this Indian tribe the writer has been unable to learn 
anything. 

2 Amiooures, from "Amik" a beaver. They claimed to be descendants of 
the great beaver— Manitou; hence the beaver is their totem. 

3 Mississague— of whom the writer has not been able to learn anything. 

4 Guilistinons, the same who are called elsewhere Kilistinons, now Crees. 
See "Hist, andbiog. notes." 

5 Oueniblgong, French form of Winibigog, fi-om "winibi," dirty water. 
They probably reside in the vicinity of Lake Winnepeg. 



87 

:navigating along the northern shores, as has heen tried some 
years ago. This depends upon the situation of said bay, 
which we have here behind us towards the North, for if said 
sea of the North should prove to be that of Hudson, or some 
other farther toward the West, an easy commercial inter- 
course cannot be expected, since a point would have to be 
doubled which extends to more than sixty-three degrees of 
north latitude. Thirdly, to arrive at a certainty regarding 
strong conjectures long entertained, that the sea of Japan 
could be reached by that route, for what has been remarked 
in some of the previous Relations concerning this matter has 
^Deen confirmed more and more by the report of the Indians 
and by the conclusions we have drawn, namely, that at some 
days' journey from the mission of St. Francis Xavier, which 
is at the Bay of the Puants, there is a large river a league or 
more in width (Mississippi), which takes its rise somewhere 
in the north and flows in a southerly direction, and that 
60 far, that the Indians who have navigated said river while 
seeking for enemies to fight, were unable after a great many 
days to discover its mouth, which must be toward the sea 
of Florida or that of California. Below a large tribe will be 
spoken of, residing in the direction of that river, as also of the 
voyage we hope to make this year, to carry the faith there, 
and at the same time to take cognizance of those new countries. 
Besides, we are assured by the report of a great many Indi- 
ans, whose statements agree very well, that at two hundred 
leagues from the mission of the Holy Ghost, amongst the 
Outaouacs, towards the West is situated the sea of the West^, 
•to which one descends by another large river, found at eight 
days' journey from said mission. These rivers go and come 
far back into the interior — it is thus the Indians express 
themselves when speaking of the tide of the sea. One of 
'them declares that he has there seen four ships with sails. 

After these two seas, that of the South and that of the 
West, there only remains that of the north, so as to be sur- 
rounded by such on all sides, which being well discovered 
the following advantages may be derived, namely : that it is 
not impossible to pass from the sea of the North to that of 



1 ^he compiler of this "Eelation, " who seems to have been Father Dab- 
Ion, probably means by the "Sea of the West" the Pacific ocean and the river 
leading to it the Columbia. He is, of course, mistaken in his estimate of the 
•distance to said " Sea of the West." 



the South or to that of the West; that, as said sea of the^ 
West cannot be any other than that of Japf.n, the passage to- 
this sea might be facilitated, as well as commerce. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



On the Mission of the Holy Ghost at Point Ghagaoua- 
MiGONG IN Lake Tracy, or Superior. 

(On the peculiarities and curiosities of Lake Superior, and,, 
in the first place, of the different kinds of fish with which 
it abounds.) 

This lake has almost the shape of a bow strung, being 
more than one hundred and eighty leagues in length, of 
which the South shore is, as it were, the string; and it seems 
as though the arrow were the large tongue of land that 
extends from the said south shore towards the middle of 
the lake, more than eighty leagues.^ 

The northern shore is frightful, on account of a series of 
rocks which form the end of the prodigious mountain chain 
which, beginning beyond Cape de Tourmente below Quebec, 
and extending till here through a space of more than six 
hundred leagues in length, finally terminates at the extrem- 
ity of this lake. 

The lake, nearly all over, is open and free from islands, 
which are generally only found towards the north shore. 
This large open space gives room to winds that agitate this 
lake with as much violence as the ocean. 

It abounds mostly all over with such a quantity of stur- 
geon, white- fish, trout, carp and herring, that a single fisher- 
man will catch in one night twenty large sturgeon or one 
hundred and fifty white fish or eight hundred herring in one 
net. These herrings are a good deal like sea herrings in 
shape and size, but they have not quite so good a flavor. It 
is necessary often to expose oneself to danger in fishing here, 
which, in certain localities, can only be carried ©n at large, 
in dangerous places, subject to storms and at night-time 
before moon- rise. In fact two Frenchmen were drowned last 



1 He means Keweenaw Point. 



89 

fall, having been overtaken by a squall of wind which they 
could not avoid. 

In a river called Nantounagan, which is on the south side 
of the lake, there is a very great fishery of sturgeon, day and 
night, from spring till autumn, and it is there the Indians ga 
to procure their supply of provisions. Opposite this river,, 
on the north shore they have a similar fishery in a small bay, 
where a single net will, in one night, take thirty or forty stur- 
geon. This abundance of sturgeon is also found in a river at 
the extremity of the lake. Along the north shore another river 
is met with which is called Black Sturgeon River, from the 
sturgeon that are caught there. They are not as good as- 
other sturgeon, but starving voyagers find them excellent. 

At La Pointe du Saint Esprit Chagaouamigong, where the 
Outaouacs and Hurons reside, there is a great fishery, at all 
times of the year, for white fish, trout and herrings. This 
"manna" begins in November and lasts till after the ice 
has formed ; and the colder it is, the more fish are caught. 
Herring are found all along the south shore of the lake, from 
spring till the end of the month of August. It were necessary 
to enumerate all the bays and rivers of this lake, if desirous 
to tell of all the fisheries carried on there. It is thus that 
Providence has supplied these poor people, who, through 
want of game and corn, live, for the greatest-part, only on fish. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



On the Mines or Copper, which are Pound at Lake 
Superior. 

Until now it was supposed these mines were only to be 
found on one or two islands. After making more exact 
researches, however, we have learned from the Indians certain 
secrets which they were unwilling to reveal. It required 
cuteness to draw such information from them, and to distin- 
guish between the true and the false. 

We do not, however, guarantee all we are about to say, upon 
their simple word, until we can speak with more assurance, 
when we shall have gone to those places ourselves, a thing 

1 Ontonagon, from onagan, "dish;" nind onagan, "my dish." 



90 

we hope to do this summer, when, at the same time, we go to 
seek for the lost sheep roaming about throughout all sections 
of this great lake country. 

Entering Lake Superior by its mouth, which empties at 
the Sault, the first place that presents itself in which copper 
is found in abundance, is an island forty or fifty leagues dis- 
tant, situated towards the north shore opposite a place called 
Missipicouating.^ 

The Indians say it is a floating island, which is sometimes 
near, sometimes far away, according to the direction in which 
the winds move, propelling it from one side to another. They 
relate also that long ago four Indians met there accidentally, 
having been lost in the fog, with which this island is mostly 
always surrounded. 

It was at a time, when they did not as yet carry on any 
commerce with the French, nor use kettles or hatchets. Ac- 
cordingly when they wanted to prepare themselves a meal 
thev took stones which they found on the beach, put them 
into the fire and made them red-hot. These heated stones 
they then put into a small vessel made of bark, so as to 
make the water boil with which it was filled and in which 
they boiled their meat. When they selecteHl the stones, they 
found that nearly all of them were pieces of copper. These 
they used, and, having taken their repast, they intended to 
embark as soon as possible, fearing the lynx and hares, which 
in that place are as large as dogs, and which were beginning 
to eat their provisions, yes, even their canoes. 

Before starting they loaded themselves with a quantity of 
those stones, large and .small, and even some plates of cop- 
per. But they had not gone very far from the shore, when 
a powerful voice made itself heard, saying in great anger: 
"Who are those thieves that are carrying away the cradles 
and toys of my children?" By the cradles were meant the 
plates of copper; for among thg Indians cradles are only 
composed of a few pieces of material fastened together, on 
which their children repose. The little pieces of cojjper 

1 Michipicoten, also Cariboo Island. George Francis Thomas (Legends of 
the Laud of the Lakes, p. 81 says: "Alexander Henry, who visited Cariboo 
fsland in his search after silver and copper, in 17tJ5, says it was called by the 
Indians, 'The Isle of the Yellow Sands,' and that a myriad of hawks encom- 
passed the island, one of which was so bold as to pluck his cap from his head. 
He found native copper iu the form of animals, leaves etc., having- been fash- 
ioned thus by the hands of prehistoric man. He also found a number of cari- 
bous, the American reindeer, upon the island." 



91 

they were taking away, were the toys of Indian children, 
who play with little stones. 

This voice astonished them very much, not knowing 
whence it came. Some said it was thunder, as storms are 
frequent there. Others maintained it was a certain manitou 
whom they call Missibizi, who among those tribes is consid- 
, ered as the god of the waters, the same as Neptune among 
the ancients. Others, finally, claimed that the voice come 
from the Memogovissiouis. These are mermaids, something 
like the fabulous Tritons or Sirens, who always live in the 
water, their hair hanging down to the waist. One of our 
Indians told us he had seen one of them in the water, as he 
imagined. 

However that may be, this astonishing voice so frightened 
our Indians, that one of the four died before reaching land; 
soon after a second one was taken away then the third; so 
only one remained who, having returned to his country, re- 
lated all that had happened and died very soon afterwards. 

The Indians, timorous and superstitious as all of them are, 
never after that dared to go to that island, for fear of dying 
there, as they believe there are certain manitous there who 
kill all those that venture to land. And, in fact, since the 
memory of man, no one has ever been known to put his 
foot on said land, or even to sail by there, although the 
island appears plainly enough to view, and one can even 
distinguish the trees of another island called Achemikouan. 

There is something true and something false in this story. 
What appears most probable, is that those four men were 
poisoned by the water which was made to boil by means of 
heating pieces of copper, which lumps of copper through 
the violence of the heat communicated their poison to the 
water ; for we know from experience that copper, when put 
into the fire for the first time, exhales dense, noxious 
vapors that whitens chimneys. It is not, however, a poison 
immediately active, but such as might more speedily take 
efi'ect in some than in others, as was the case with those men 
of whom we are speaking. Already feeling the sickening 
efiects of the verdigris in the water in which they had boiled 
their meat, they may have easily imagined to hear that 
voice, or, perhaps, they heard some echo, which is commonly 
the case among the rocks with which this island is lined. 



92 

Perhaps this fable was invented afterwards, not knowing 
to what to ascribe the death ot those Indians. And when 
they say it is a floating island, it is probable that the vapors 
which often hover over it, rarifying or condensing in the rays 
of the sun, make the island sometimes appear very near and 
at others farther off. 

What is certain, is that, according to the common belief of 
the Indians, there is a great abundance of copper on this 
island, but that no one has the courage to go there. It is 
there we hope to begin the discoveries, which we intend to 
make this summer. 

Proceeding further (westward along the northern shor^) 
to the place called : La Grand Anse, an island is met with three 
leagues from the mainland, which is renowned for the metal 
found there and also for the name Thunder, which it bears, 
because it is said it always thunders there. 

But still further westward, along the same northern shore, 
is found an island most famous for copper, called Minong.^ 
It is there, as the Indians have told many persons, that cop- 
per is to be found in great quantity, and in many places. 
This island is large, twenty -five leagues long, seven leagues 
from the mainland and more than sixty leagues from the 
(west) end of the lake. Almost everywhere on the shores of 
this island pieces of copper may be seen among the stones at 
the edge of the water, especially at the side opposite (Jacing 
the south), but principally in a certain bay, toward the 
end which faces the northeast from the side of the offing. 
There are some very steep bluffs of potters' clay there, and 
on the side of these perpendicular bluffs or hills are seen 
several layers, or beds ot red copper, one above the other, 
separated from one another, or divided by other layers of 
earth or rock. Even in the water copper-sand, as it were 
(pulverized copper ore), is seen, and a person may take up 
grains with a spoon, some as large as an acorn, and others 
smaller reduced to sand (pulverized by the action of the 
water). This large island is almost entirely surrounded by 
islets, said to be of copper. They are to be met with in dif- 
ferent places, till to the mainland of the north (shore). One 
of them is no farther away from Minong than two gun-shots. 
This islet is situated between the middle of the main island 



1 Minong, now called Isle Royal. 



93 

and that end which faces north-east. There is, besides, on 
this north-east side, very far out in the lake, another island, 
called Manitouminis, on account of the copper with which 
it abounds and of which it is related that those who were there 
formerly threw down stones upon the ground, making them 
resound as brass generally does. 

Advancing to the (west) end of the lake and returning (east- 
ward) one day's journey along the south shore, there is seen 
at the edge of the water a rock of copper^ weighing seven or 
eight hundred pounds. It is so hard that a steel instrument 
oan hardly penetrate it. When it is heated, however, it may 
be cut like lead. 

Further on this side, along the south shore is situated the 
Pointe of Chagaouamigong, where we have established the 
Mission of the Holy Ghost, of which we will speak hereafter. 
Near this are islands,^ on the shores of which pieces of cop- 
per-ore are found and even plates of the same material. 

Last spring we bought of the Indians a flat pieoe of pure 
copper, two feet square, which weighs more than one hundred 
pounds. It is not believed, however, that (copper) mines 
exist on the islands, but that all these nuggets of copper prob- 
ably come from Minong or from other islands, where they 
originated, being carried on floating cakes of ice or rolled 
along on the bottom of the water by very impetuous winds, 
especially from the north-east, which wind is extremely violent, 
It is true that on the mainland,^ at the place where the 
Outaouacs rais*^ Iiidi.in-corn, ab(5ut half a league from the 
edge of the water, the women have sometimes found pieces 
of oopper scattered here and there, weighing ten, twenty or 
thirty pounds. It is when digging into the sand to conceal 
their corn that they make these discoveries. 

In going back still further towards the mouth of the lake, 
following the south shore, twenty leagues from the place of 
which we have just spoken (Chagaouamigong) one enters a 
river called Nantounagan, where a blufi" is seen, from which 
pieces of red copper fall into the water or on the land, where 
they are easily found. Three years ago a massive piece (of 



1 This large mass of copper was probably near the mouth of Iron River, 
Bayfield Co. 

3 The Apostles Islands. 

3 This seems to have been at the southeast end of Chequamegon Bay, 
l)etween Fish Creek and Ashland. 



94 

copper) of one hundred pounds weight was given us, which 
was obtained in this same place and of which we cut off some 
pieces and sent them to Quebec to Monsieur Talon. 

All do not agree as to f^e precise locality where copper is 
found (on Ontonagan River). Some would have it where the 
river begins to retire; others say it is met with right near 
the lake, when digging into the loamy ground. Some say 
at the place where the river forks, and in a creek which if 
more to the east, on this side of a point, one has to dig into 
the rich soil, so as to find this copper and that pieces of this 
metal are found scattered throughout the creek, which is in 
the middle. 

Coming on still further this way, there presents itself a 
long point of land, which appears to us like an arrow. At 
the end of this there is an islet which seems to be only six 
feet square and which is said to be entirely of copper. 

Finally, not to omit describing a single section of this great 
lake, we ''re told in the interior, on the south side, mines of 
this metal are found in different places. 

All these items f-'f information and others which it is un- 
necessary to describe more at length, merit indeed that an 
exact research be made, and such we will try to undertake. 
There are also indications of copper, to judge from the verdi- 
gris, which they say runs down from the crevices of certain 
rocks at the edge of the water, where even among the pebbles 
some pieces are found, somewhat soft, of an agreeable green- 
ish color. If God prospers us in our undertaking, we shall 
speak of it next year with more certainty and knowledge. 



CHAPTER XXV. 



Of the Tribes Connected with the Mission of the Holy 

G-HOST AT THE PoiNT CALLED GhAGAOUAMIGONG. 

A person may count more than fitty villages, composed of 
different tribes, either roaming about or having fixed abodes,, 
who in some way depend on this mission, and to whom one 
can announce the Gospel, be it by going to their country, or 
at the time when they come to this section to trafi[ic. 

The three tribes comprised under the name of Outaouacs, 
of which one has embraced Christianity, and that of the 



95 

Hurons Etionnontatetieronnons, of whom there are about 
fimhundred baptized^ inhabit this Point, subsisting on fish and 
corn, and rarely on game. They compose more than fifteen 
hundred souls. 

The Illinois tribe, living southward, have five large villages, 
one of which extends three leagues, the wigwams being in 
a row. They number nearly two thousand souls, and come 
here from time to time, in great numbers, as traders, to pro- 
cure hatchets, guns, and other things they need. During the 
time they stay here the missionaries sow in their hearts the 
first seeds of the Gospel. Hereafter more will be said of these 
people and of the desire t^^ey show to have one of our Fathers 
instruct them, as also of the design Father Marquette has 
formed of going to them next autumn. 

Eight days' journey from here, westward, is the first of the 
thirtv villages of the Nadouessi. The great war tliey wage 
with our Hurons and some other tribes of this section of the 
country, keeps them more reserved and obliges them not to 
come here, except in small numbers, and, apparently, as an 
embassy. More will be said of them below, when we shall 
relate what said Father did to pacify them and preserve 
them in peace. 

Of all the tribes toward t^e north, there are three who 
come here to traffic and \exy recently two hundred canoes of 
them stayed here for some time. 

Four other tribes of those who compose the mission of St. 
Francis Xavier at the Bay of the Puants, have received the 
first tincture of the faith during the time they resided here, 
fleeing from the pursuit of the Iroquois. 

Thus the mission finds itself surrounded nearly on all 
sides with tribes, at whose conversion the missionary has 
begun to labor, as we are about to see. 



96 
CHAPTER XXVI. 



Letter of Father James Marquette to the Rev. Father 
Superior of the Mission.^ 

My Reverend Father, Pax Christi: — 

I am obliged to give Your Reverence an account of the 
etate of the mission of the Holy Ghost among the Outa- 
■ouaes, according to the order received from Your Reverence, 
and lately again from Father Dablon, since my arrival here, 
after one month's navigation in snow and ice, which closed 
•our passage, and in almost continual danger of death. 

Divine Providence having destined me to continue the 
mission of the Holy Ghost, which Father Allouez had started, 
and where he baptized the head men of the Kiskakonk tribe, 
1 arrived there oa the thirteenth of September (1669). I 
went to visit the Indians who were living in clearings divided 
as it were, into five villages The Hurons, to the number of 
from four to five hundred souls, are nearly all baptized, and 
still always preserve a little Christianity. Some of the 
principal men, assembled in council, were much pleased at 
tirst to see me. I gave them to understand, however, that I 
did not as yet know their latiguage perfectly, and that there 
was no other Father to come here, partly becaase they were 
all gone to the Iroqaois, and partly because Father Allouez, 
who understood th«^m perfectly, did not wish to return here 
^or this winter, on account of their not showing enough 
attachment to religion (prayer). They admitted that they 
well-deserved punishment and afterwards, during the winter 
thev spoke of it and resolved to do better, which they in 
reality have shown me by their conduct. 

Those of the Keinouche^ tribe declare loudly that the 
time is not yet come (to embrace the Christian religion). 
Still there are two men formerly baptized, one of whom 
somewhat advanced in years, is considered a wonder among 

1 This letter of Father iMarquette was most probably written at Sault Ste. 
Marie in the early part of spring, 1670. It seems he started from his mission 
at the bead of Chequameg'on Bay in the latt^n- part of April or the beginning' 
of May, when snow and ice are not a rare occurrence on Lake Superior. It 
is difficult to determin J how long he stopped at the Sault and when he re- 
turned to La Pointe du Saint Esprit. 

3 Keinouche, French form Ke-no-sha, "pike," an Ottawa clan, whose totem 
was the pike; hence Kenosha City, Wis. 



97 

the Indians, not having as yet, wished to get married. He 
always persists in his resolution, no matter what may be 
said to him on that account. He suffers great attacks, even 
from his own relatives, but this has no more effect on him 
than the loss of all his merchandise that he had brought 
along with him last year from the French settlements. He 
had not even as much left to himself as would cover him. 
These are hard trials for Indians, the greater part of whom 
seek nothing else than to possess much in this world. 

The other, who is a young man newly married, seems to be 
of a different nature from the rest. The Indians, extraor- 
dinarily attached as they are to dreams, had concluded 
that a certain number of young men should commit inde- 
cencies with young girls, each of the latter chosing for this 
purpose any young man she liked. This is never refused, 
because they believe the life of men depends upon it. They 
call this young Christian. A.t first he enters the wigwam, 
and, seeing they are about to begin their orgies, he feigns to 
be sick and immediately leaves. They go t<i call him back, 
but he refuses to do anything of the kind. He confesses 
with prudence as great as could be expected, and I wondered 
that an Indian could live so innocentl}^ and everywhere de- 
clare himself a Christian with so much courage. He still 
has his mother, who is a good Christian, as are also some of 
his sisters. 

The Outaouacs are extraordinarily superstitious in their 
feasts and juggleries and seem to harden themselves against 
the instructions imparted to them. They are, however, well 
satisfied to have their children baptized. God has this 
winter permitted a woman to die in her sins. Her sickness 
had been concealed from me, and I heard nothing ab'^ut it, 
except by a report circulated aboat that she had requested a 
very bad dance to be performed for her cure. I immediately 
went into a wigwam, where all the head men were at a feast, 
and among them some Christian Kiskakonk. I pointed out 
to them the wickedness of that woman and of the medicine- 
man (in getting up such an immodest dance). I instructed 
them, speaking to all present, and God willed that an aged 
Outaouac should take the word, saying my request should 
be granted, no matter if the woman were to die. An aged 
Christian also spoke, telling the tribe the debaucheries of the 
joung people ought to be stopped, and that Christian girls 



98 

should never be allowed to be present at these dances. To 
satisfy the woman the dance wa,^ changed into a child's play, 
but this did not prevent her from d3'ing before day-break. 

The extreme danger in which a young man lay sick, in- 
duced the medicine-man to say he should invoke the devil 
•by means of very extraordinary superstitious performances. 
The Christians made no invocation whatever. Only the 
medicine-man and the patient did so. The latter was made • 
to walk over large fires which had been lighted in all the 
wigwams. They say that he did not feel the heat of those 
fires, although his body had been anointed with oil during 
five or six days. Men, women, and children ran from wig- 
wam to wigwam, proposing, as an enigma, anything they 
had in their minds, and the one who guessed it was very 
well satisfied to receive whatever he was looking for. I pre- 
vented them from practicing the indecencies in which they 
are in the habit of indulging at the end of all these deviltries. 
I think they will not return to them again, as the sick man 
died a short time after. 

The Kiskakonk tribe, which for three years had refused to re- 
ceive the Gospel announced to them by Father Allouez, finally 
resolved, in the autumn of the year 1668 to obey God. This- 
resolution was taken in a council and declared to the 
Father, who was obliged to winter with them for the fourth 
time, in order to instruct and baptize them. The headmen 
of the tribe declare themselves Christians and in order to 
attend to them, the Father having gone to another mission, 
the charge of this one was given to me, of which I went to 
take charge in the month of September of the year 1669. 

All the Christians were in the fields at that time, harvesting 
their Indian corn. They listened to me with pleasure, when 
I told them I had come to La Pointe merely through consid- 
eration for them and the Hurons, that they would never be 
abandoned, would be cherished above all other tribes and 
would henceforth form one nation with the French. I had 
the consolation of seeing their love for religion, and how much 
they appreciate their being Christians. I baptized the newly- 
born children and visited the old men, all of whom I found 
well disposed. The chief having allow^ed a dog to be attached 
to a pole near his wigwam, which is a kind of sacrifice to the 
sun, I told liim that was not right, and he immediately' 
threw it down himself. A sick man who had been instructed, 



99 

but not yet baptized, begged me to grant him this grace, or to- 
stay near him, because he did not wish to emploj^ the medi- 
cine-man to get- cured, and feared the fire of hell. I prepared 
him for Baptism. I was often in his wigwam and the joy 
my visits occasioned partly restored him to health. He 
thanked me for the care I had taken of him and shortly after,, 
saying I had restored him to life, he made me a present of a 
slave, who had been brought to him from the Illinois two or 
three months before. 

In the evening, being in the wigwam of a Christian, where 
I used to sleep, I made him say some prayers to the guardian- 
angel, and related some anecdotes to make him understand 
the assistance the angels give us, especially when in danger of 
offending God. He told me that he now knew the invisible 
hand that struck him, when, after his Baptism he was on the 
point of committing sin with a woman and, having heard a 
voice that told him to remember he was a Christian, he 
departed without committing this sin. Afterwards he often 
spoke to me about the devotion to the guardian-angels and 
conversed about it with other Indians. 

Some of the young women baptized serve as an example 
to all the rest, and are not ashamed to say they are Chris- 
tians. Marriages^ amongst Indians are dissolved about as 
easily as they are contracted, and it is no dishonor then to 
marry some one else. Having learned that a certain young- 
Christian woman' having been abandoned by her husband, 
was in the same danger (of remarrying invalidly) on account 
of her relatives, I went to see her and encouraged her to 
behave in a Christian manner. She kept her word so well 
that no one ever heard anything ill said of her. Her conduct 
joined with the remonstrances I made to her husband, induced 
him to take her back towards the close of the winter, and 
she failed not to come immediately to the chapel, from 
which she had previously been too far away. She opened 
her conscience to me, and I wonder that a young woman 
lived in such (an innocent) way. 

The pagans make no feast without sacrifice, and we find it 
difficult to prevent them. The Christians have now changed 
this way of acting, and, to accomplish this more readily, I 



1 See " Hist, and Biog. Notes," where the reader will find an article on 
Indian Marriages by Nicholas Perrot, 1665-1701. 



100 

preserve a little of their custom and take from it what is 
bad They have to make a speech at the beginning of the 
feast ; so they call upon God, of whom they ask health and 
what they need, declaring that for this purpose they fea,pt 
the people. God has been pleased to keep all the Christians 
in health except two children, whose sickness they sought to 
hide from me, and for whom a medicine-man had performed 
his deviltries. They died shortly after being baptized. 

Having invited the Kiskakonk to come and winter near 
the chapel, they left all the other tribes to dwell near us, in 
order to be able to pray to God, receive instruction and get 
their children baptized. They declare themselves Chris- 
tians, and, for that reason, I used to address them in all the 
councils and aflfairs of importance. In fact, it was enough 
to let them know what I wanted, in order to obtain it, when 
I addressed them in their quality as Christians ; they told 
me, toOj it was on that account they obeyed me. They have 
taken the foremost place among the other tribes, and, it may 
be said, they govern three of them. It is a great consolation 
to a missionary to see people so tractable in the midst of 
barbarism, to live in so great peace with Indians, and 
sometimes to pass whole days in instructing them and 
making them pray to God, The rigor of the winter and the 
bad weather did not prevent them from coming to the chapel. 
There were some who did not miss a siagle day, and I 
was busy receiving them from morning till night. Some I 
prepared for baptism, others I instructed for confession and 
still others I disabused of their reveries. The old men told 
me the young had not much understanding as yet, and that 
I should prevent their disorders. I often spoke to them 
about their daughters, telling them they should not allow 
young men to go and visit them at night. I knew, prop- 
erly speaking, all that was going on amongst the two tribes 
that were near us, but, concerning the rest, have only heard 
reports. No one ever spoke to me of the Christian women 
among them, and when I asked the opinion of some of the 
ancients, they had nothing to answer me, excejjt that these 
women prayed to God. I used to often s ek to impress this 
point, well knowing all the solicitations Christian women 
suffer every night, and what courage they need to resist 
them. They have learned to be modest, and the French, 
who saw them, well noticed they were not like the rest. It 



101 

is by their modesty that Christian women are distinguished. 
One day, instructing the old men in my wigwam, speaking 
to them about the creation of the world and other facts 
related in the Old Testament, they told me what they for- 
merly believed ; now they regard ihose things as fables. 
They have some knowledge of the tower of Babel, saying 
their ancestors used to relate that in olden times a large 
house had been built, but that a great wind had thrown it 
down. They despise all those petty gods which they had 
before they were baptized. They often ridicule them and 
wonder at themselves for having had so little understanding 
as to offer sacrifices to those fabulous objects. 

I baptized an adult after a long trial, and his assiduity at 
prayer, his open-heartedness in relating his past life to me, 
the promises he made me, especially not to go and visit 
girls, the assurances they gave me of his good conduct, — all 
this obliged me to grant him what he demanded (i. e., bap- 
tism;. He has since continued in his good behavior, and 
immediately after his return from the fishery he did not fail 
to come to the chapel. After the Easter holidays the Indi- 
ans separate, to hunt for a living. They promised me 
always to remember their religion, and urgently requested 
that one of our fathers might come and seek them in the 
fall, when they would meet again. Their petition will be 
granted, and if it please God to send us as a father, he will 
take my place, whilst I, to execute the orders of the Father 
Superior, shall go to begin the mission of the Illinois. 

The Illinois are thirty days' journey by land from La 
Pointe, the way being very difficult. They are south-west- 
ward from La Pointe du Saint Esprit. One passes through 
(the country inhabited by) the tribe of the Ketehigamins,^ 
who compose more than twenty large lodges, and live in the 
interior. They seek to get acquainted with the French, in 
hopes of procuring tomahawks, knives and other iron imple- 
ments from them. So much do they fear them that they 
took from the fire two Illinois, who, when tied to the stake, 
said the French had declared they wished to have peace all 
over the land. After that, the traveler passes through the 
country of the Miamiouek (the Miami) and, traversing great 



1 Ketehigamins, most probably an error of the copyist, should be Kltch- 
igamins, " Large Lake People." 



102 

prairies, he arrives in the country of the Illinois, who are 
principly gathered in two villages, which contain from eight 
to nine thousand souls. These people are well enough dis- 
posed for Christianity. 

Since Father Allouez exhorted them at La Pointe to adore 
one God alone, they have begun to abandon their false gods. 
They adore the sun and thunder. Those whom I have seen 
appear to be of a pretty good nature. They do not run 
about at night as others do. A man boldly kills his wife if 
he learns that slie is unfaithful. They are more reserved in 
their sacrifices, and promise me to embrace Christianity and 
to do all I will tell them, in their country. With this ob- 
ject in view the Outaouacs have given me a young man 
lately from the Illinois country, who has taught me the 
first rudiments of tha,t language during the leisure time 
afforded by the Indians of La Pointe in the winter. The 
Illinois tongue is scarcely intelligible, although it has some- 
thing of the Algonquin. Nevertheless, I hope with the 
assurance of the grace of God, to understand and be under- 
stood, if God in his goodness brings me to that country. 

A person must not' hope to escape crosses in any of our 
missions, and the best way to live contentedly under these- 
crosses is not to fear them, and, when enjoying little ones, to 
await from the goodness of God such as are far greater. The 
Illinois wish for us, Indian-fashion, to share in their mise- 
ries and to endure all that can be imagined from their bar- 
barism. They are lost sheep that must be hunted up in the 
under-brush and forests, especially as they cry so loud for 
some one to go and draw them out of the jaws of the wolf; 
such are the urgent requests they made me during winter. 

The Illinois always travel by land. The}^ plant Indian- 
corn, of which they have an abundance. They have pump- 
kins as large as those of France, and plenty of grapes and 
other fruit. In their country hunting for buffaloes, bears, 
deer, turkeys, ducks, wild geese, pigeons, and cranes, is very 
profitable. During a certain season of the year they leave 
their village, all of theixi, to go in a body to the hunting-grounds, 
thus the better to resist the enemies who come to attack them. 
They be^eve, if I go there, I shall make peace everywhere; 
that they will always stay in the same place, and only the 
j,oung will go hunting. 



103 

When the Illinois come to La Pointe, they pass a large 
river about a jeiigiie in width (Mississippi). It runs from 
aiorth to south, and so far that the Illinois, who do not know 
what a canoe is, have not heard of its mouth. They only 
know that there are very large tribes further south than they, 
:Some of whom raise two crops of Indian-corn in a year. East 
or south-east from their country, a tribe, whom they call 
Chaouanons,^ came to visit them last summer. The young 
man who was given to me and who teaches me the (Illinois) 
language, saw them. They were laden with glass-beads, which 
shows they have iatercourse with Europeans. They had 
traveled through a certain country for almost thirty days 
before arriving at this place (the country of the Illinois). It 
is hardly credible that this large river^ empties (into the sea) 
at Virginia, and we rather believe it has its mouth in Califor- 
nia. If the Indians who have promised to make me a canoe, 
do not fail in their word, we shall travel on this river as far 
as possible, with a. Frenchmen and the young man given to 
me, who knows some of those languages and has an aptness 
for learning others. We shall visit the tribes, who inhabit 
those countries, in order to open the way to so many of our 
Fathers who are awaiting this happiness since so long a time. 
This discovery will give us a full knowledge of the sea, either 
that of the south or that of the west. 

At a distance of six or seven days' journey further down 
than the Illinois, there is another large river, on which there 
are prodigious tribes who use wooden canoes. We cannot 
write anything else about them until next year, if God 
vouchsafes to conduct us thither. 

The Illinois are warriors. They make a number of their 
enemies slaves, with whom they carry on traffic with the 
Outaouacs, to get guns, powder, kettles, hatchets and knives 
from them. They formerly had war with the Nadouessi and, 
having made peace some years ago, I confirmed it, in order to 
make it easier for them (the Illinois) to come to La Pointe, 
where I go to await them in order to accompany them into 
their country. 

The Nadouessi, beyond La Pointe, who are the Iroquois of 
this country , but less perfidious, and who never attack with- 

1 Chaouanon, pronounced Shah-wah-non "southern people," the same 
generally called Shawuees. They lived along the Ohio Kiver, and were a very 
populous tribe, inoffensive and averse to war. 

2 The Mississippi. 



104 

out provocation, are about westward from the Mission of the 
Holy Ghost. They are a large tribe and one that has not 
yet been visited, we being devoted to the conversion of the 
Outaouacs. They fear the French, because they have brought 
iron into the country. They have a language entirely differ- 
ent from the Algonquin and Huron. There are a number of 
villages but they extend to a very long distance. They have 
most extraordinary ways of acting. They adore the calumet, 
say not a word at their feasts, and when a stranger arrives, 
they feed him with a wooden fork, as one would do a child. 
All the tribes of the lake (Superior) make war upon them, 
but with little succesi:. They have wild rice, use sujall canoes 
and keep their word inviolably. I have sent them a present 
by the interpreter, in order to tell them to recognize the French 
wherever they might meet tliem; not to kill them nor the 
Indians accompanying them ; that the Black-gown wishes to 
go to the country of the Assinipouars and to that of the Kil- 
istinaux ; that he has already been with the Outagamis, and 
that he will start this fa,ll to go to the Illinois, requesting them 
to leave the way to their country open. They have consented 
to these demands ; as to my present, however, they said they 
were waiting for all their people to return from the chase, and 
that they would be at La Pointe this tall, to hold a council 
with the Illinois and to speak with me. I would wish that 
all the tribes had as much love for God as they have fear ot 
the French ; Christianity would then soon flourish. 

The Assinipouars, who have about the same language as 
the Nadouessi, are westward from the Mission of the Holy 
Ghost, at a lake fifteen or twenty days' journey distant, where 
they gather wild rice and where the fishing is very good. I 
heard there is a large river in their country, which leads to 
the Sea of the West, and an Indian told me that being at the 
mouth, he had seen Frenchmen there, and four large canoes 
(vessels) with sails. 

The Kilistinaux are a wandering people, and we do not as 
yet know their rendez-vo.us. They are towards the north- 
west from the Mission of the Holy Ghost, always in the woods 
and have only their bow and arrow with which to make a 
living. They came to the mission, where I was last fall, to 
the number of two hundred canoes, to buy merchandise and 
corn. They then went to the woods to stay there over winter. 
I saw them again this spring at the lake-shore. 



105 
CHAPTER XXVII. 



Necessary Explanation in Order to Get a Correct Idea 
op the outaouac missions/ 

"It is good to give a general idea of these Outaouac coun- 
tries, not only in order to know the places where the faith 
has been announced by the establishment of missions, but 
also because the king, having very recently^ taken possession 
of these countries by a ceremony worthy of the oldest son 
of the Church and of a most Christian ruler, has placed all 
these tribes under the protection of the Cross before taking 
them under his own protection. He did not wish to hoist 
the insignia of royal power until he had first raised the 
standard of Jesus Christ, as shall be stated in the narrative 
of this act of taking possession. 

Casting a glance on the topography of the lakes and lands, 
on which the greater number of the tribes of these quarters 
have settled, will give more insight into all these missions 
than a long discourse on the subject. 

First, look at the mission of Sainte Marie Du Sault, about 
three leagues below the mouth of Lake Superior. It will be 
seen situated on the bank of the river into which this great 
lake empties, at a place called the Sault, which is very ad- 
vantageous for apostolic functions, since it is the great ren- 
dezvous of the main part of the Indians of these quarters, 
and the almost ordinary route of all those who go down to 
the French settlements. Hence it is in this place that the 
assuming possession of all these countries in the name of His 
Majesty took place, in presence of fourteen tribes, and with 
their consent, they having gone there for this purpose. 

Towards the other extremity of the same lake is found the 
mission of the Holy Ghost, which is partly at a place called 
The Point of Chagaouamigong, and partly on the neighboring 
islands, lohere the Outaouacs and the Hurons^ of the Tionontate 

1 Relation of 1671, pp. 24-36. 

3 On the 14th of June, 1671. See next chapter. 

3 It is, therefore, hig-hly probable that these two tribes spent a sfreat 
part of the year on the islands, and especially on La Pointe Island, and that 
both Fathers, Marquette and Allouez, said Mass and performed other func- 
tions of the ministrj- there. As a large portion of the last named island had 
been cleared and cultivated by the Chippewas prior to their dispersion, it is 
natural to suppose that the Ottawas and Hurons occupied the lands thus 
abandoned, the more so as. the fishery Avas most excellent all around the 
Island. 



106 

betake themselves, according to the season, either to fish or to raise 
Indian corn. 

It will be easy to recognize the rivers and ways that lead 
to the different tribes, either settled down or roving about in 
the vicinity of this same lake, and who, in some way, are 
dependent on this same mission of the Holy Ghost, on 
account of the traffic that attracts them to the place where 
our Indians dwell. 

It is towards the south that the great river called Missis- 
sippi runs, which must empty towards the Sea of Florida, 
more than four hundred leagues from here, and of which 
more will be said hereafter. Beyond the great river are sit- 
uated eight villages of the Illinois, about one hundred 
leagues from La Pointe du Saint Esprit. Forty or fifty 
leagues from the same place, westward, is found the Na- 
douessi tribe, very populous and warlike, who are considered 
the Iroquois of these countries, warring single-handed with 
all the other tribes here. Further on, another tribe of an 
unknown language is met with, and after this is passed they 
say the Sea of the West appears. Pushing on still towards 
west-northwest, one sees a tribe called Assinipoualac, 
composing one large village, or, according to others, thirty 
small neighboring villages, somewhat near the Sea of the 
North, at fifteen days' journey from the same mission of the 
Holy Ghost. 

Finally the Kilistinons are scattered all over the country 
north of this lake, having no corn, nor fields, nor any settled 
dwelling place, but incessantly roaming about in those great 
forests to make a living by hunting, like some other tribes 
of these quarters, who, on that account, are called North- 
Land or North-Sea tribes. 

We might designate, en passant, all the places of this lake, 
where copper is said to be found. Although until now 
people have not a thorough knowledge of the place in which 
it exists through want of exact research, still the plates and 
lumps of this metal, which we have seen, and which weigh 
each one to two hundred pounds — this large rock of copper 
of from seven to eight hundred pounds, which all • tra,velers 
see towards the head of the lake, — besides a great number of 
pieces that are found on the beach in different places, — ^^all 
this seems to allow of no doubt that- there are some choice 
mines of copper not as yet discovered. 



107 

Having glanced all over this Lake Superior and the tribes 
living in this vicinity, we can go down towards the lake of 
the HuTons and notice there, almost in the middle (of said 
lake, on the Manitoulin Island), the mission of St. Simon, 
established on the islands that formerly had been the true 
country of some Outaouac tribes, but which they were 
obliged to abandon when the Iroquois desolated the Huron 
country. Since the time, however, that the arms of the 
king have compelled the Iroquois to live in peace with our 
Algonquins, a part of the Outaouacs have returned to their 
country, and we, at the same time, have chosen the site for 
this mission, with which we connected the Mississagwe^ 
tribe, the Amicoues and their neighbors, to whom we have 
annnounced the faith and of whom we have baptized a great 
many children, as well as adults. 

Towards the south and at the other side of the lake 
(Huron) are the lands formerly inhabited by different tribes 
of Hurons and Outaouacs, who had settled at some distance 
from one another, as far as the famous island of Missili- 
makinac. Near this island, as the place most renowned for 
its abundance of fish, different tribes had formerly made 
their abode. If they see that the peace (forced upon the 
Iroquois by the victorious arms of France) is good and 
strong, they declare they will return thither. For this rea- 
son we have already , to some extent, laid the foundation 
there of the mission of St. Ignace during the last winter we 
spent there. 

From there (Missilimackinac) you enter the lake called 
Mitchiganons (Michigan), to which the Illinois have left 
their name. After those people who had formerly dwelt 
near the Sea of the West had been driven away by their 
enemies, they came to seek refuge on the shores of this lake. 
There the Iroquois dispossessed them ; so they finally 
retired a seven-days' journey beyond the great river (Missis- 
sippi). It will be seen hereafter that a part of this tribe 
have begun to be enlightened by the light of faith which we 
have brought to this, their dwelling-place.^ 

1 This mission was probably founded by Father Dablon in the winter of 
1670-71. 

3 In 1670 the Illinois were twice visited at their village on the Upper Fox 
River, nine miles from Portag-e City ; the first time by Father Allouez on the 
39th of April, and the second time by both Fathers Dablon and Allouez on the 
15th of September. The main body of the Illinois, however, resided further 
south, in Iowa and Illinois. 



108 

Finally, between this Lake of the Illinois and Lake Su- 
perior a long bay is seen, called the Bay of the Puants (Green 
Bay), at the head of which is the Mission of St. .Francis 
Xavier. At the entrance of this bay the Huron Islands are 
to be met with, so called because the Hurons, after the 
desolation of their country, retired thither for some time. 
On one of them, especially, are found certain kinds of emer- 
alds like diamonds, some white, others green. Further on 
still, northward, a rather small river can be seen, to which 
the name of Copper River has been given, on account of a 
mass of metal, weighing over two hundred pounds, which we 
have seen there. 

Going towards the head of said bay, the river of the 
Oumaloumines is seen, which (word) means Wild Rice 
tribe. This tribe is dependent upon the Mission of St. 
Francis Xavier, as also that of the Pouteouatami, Ousaki 
and other tribes, who, having been driven from their coun- 
try, which are the lands of the south, near Missilimackinac, 
have fled to the head of this bay. Beyond this bay, in the 
interior, can be noticed the Fire tribe, or Mashkoutench, 
with one of the Illinois tribes, called Lesoumarai, and the 
Outagami. Of them more shall be said in detail, as well as 
of all the rest that have been mentioned, the faith having 
been announced to nearly all of them. Some of them have 
embraced it, making public profession of Christianity ; 
others have not as yet declared themselves, although .many 
individuals have received holy baptism, and the most of 
them the instructions necessary for receiving it. 

The rest, finally, who are more distant towards the south 
and westward, either begin to come to us — for the Illinois 
have already arrived at this bay, or they are waiting till we 
can push through to the place in which they reside. Of 
this we shall treat more in detail when speaking of the 
Missions in succession. Then we shall touch upon the more 
rare and curious things to be found in those lands and the 
tribes newly discovered." 



109 
CHAPTER XXVII. 



The Formal Taking Possession of the Entire Outaouac 
Country, in the name of the King of France. 

" We^ do not claim to give a statement here of all that took 
place at this ceremony, but will relate only what concerns 
Christianity and the good of the missions, which will now 
flourish more than ever, after that which took place to their 
advantage, on this occasion. 

Monsieur Talon, our Intendant, on his return from Portugal 
and after his shipwreck, received orders from the king again 
to pass over into this country. He was ordered by His 
Majesty at the same time to labor strongly at the establish- 
ment of Christianity by favoring our missions, and to make 
known the name and power of our invincible monarch among 
even the most unknown and distant tribes. This order, sup- 
ported by the intentions of the minister, who is always 
equally watchful to extend the glory of God and to procure 
that of his king in every land, was executed as soon as 
practicable. No sooner had Monsieur Talon landed than he 
thought of the means to make it successful. Hence he chose 
Sieur Lusson, whom he commissioned, in his place and in 
the name of His Majesty, to take possession of the lands be- 
tween the East and the West, from Montreal to the Sea of 
the South, as much and as far as could be included in this 
act of taking possession. 

For this purpose, having wintered at the Lake of the 
Hurons, he went to Sainte Marie of the Sault in the beginning 
of May in this year, one thousand six hundred and seveniy- 
one. He first convoked the tribes of the surrounding country 
of more than a hundred leagues, who, in the person of their 
ambassadors, met there to the number of fourteen tribes.^ 

1 "Relation" of 1671, pp. 36-38. 

3 The Chippewas, according- to their traditional accounts, -went there 
"headed by their chief Ke-che-ne-zuh-yauh, head chief of the great Ci-ane 
family. Addressing- him. the Freach envoy said: "Every morning- you will 
look towards the rising- of the sun and you shall see the fire of your French 
father (king- of France) reflecting- towards you to warm you and your people. 
If you ai e in trouble, you, the Crane, must arise in the skies and cry with your 
'far sounding' voice and I will hear you. The fire of your French father shall 
last forever and warm his children." At the end of this address a gold medal 
shaped like a heart was placed on the breast of the chief and by this mark of 
honor he was recognized as chief of the Lake Superior Ojibway?." (Wm. W. 
Warren in Minn. Hist. Coll. vol. v, pp. 131-33.) 



110 

Having made the necessary arrangements so that all might 
tend to the honor of France, he began the fourth (should be 
14th) of June of the same year by an act the -most solemn, 
that had ever taken place in those countries. 

All the people being assembled for a grand public council, 
and, having selected a rising piece of ground very proper for 
his design, which hill overlooks the Chippewa village, he 
caused a Cross to be erected there and then had the arms of 
the king hoisted with all the magnificence he could devise.. 

The Cross was publicly blessed with all the ceremonies of 
the church by the superior of those missions and, while lift- 
ing it from the ground in order to plant it, the hymn "Vexilla. 
Regis" was sung, which a good number of French, who were- 
present on this occasion, entoned to the admiration of all the 
Indians, there being mutual joy in the hearts of both classes 
at the sight of this glorious standard of Jesus Christ, which 
appeared only to be lifted up so high in order to rule over 
the hearts of these poor people. 

Then the escutcheon of France, having been attached to a 
cedar-pole, was raised above the Cross, whilst the oration 
"Exaudiat" was being sung, and they were praying at this 
end of the world for the sacred person of His Majesty. After 
this Monsieur de Saint Lusson observing all the formalities 
generally observed on such occasions, took possession of 
these countries, the air resounding with redoubled cries of 
"Vive le Roy !" and the firing of guns, to the astonishment 
of all those people, who had never before seen anything 
similar. 

After free scope had been given to this confused noise of 
voices and guns, a great silence came upon the whole as- 
sembly. Then Father Allouez commenced the eulogy of the 
king, to make known to all those tribes who this monarch 
was, whose arms they saw and to whose power they had this 
day submitted themselves. Being well versed in their 
language and ways, he knew so well how to accommodate 
himself to their mental capacity, that he gave them such an 
exalted idea of the greatness of our incomparable sovereign, 
that they declared they had no word to express what they 
thought of it. 

The Father spoke as follows: " Behold, a noble affair pre- 
sents itself to us, my brethren; grand and important is the 
affair, which is the object of this council. Look up to the 



Ill 

Cross, elevated so high above your heads. To such it was 
that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, having become man for 
the love of man, allowed himself to be fastened and to die, 
in order to render satisfaction to the eternal Father for our 
sins. He is the master of our lives, of heaven and earth and 
hell. It is of Him I always speak to you, and His name and 
word I have carried into all these countries. But look, at 
the same time, at this other pole, to which are attached the 
arms of the great chief of France, whom we call the king. He 
lives beyond the sea. He is the chjef of the greatest chiefs; 
he has not his equal on earth. All the chiefs you have ever 
seen or heard of are but children in comparison to him ; he 
is like a great tree and they, they are only like small plants, 
which are trampled under foot in walking. You know On- 
nontio, the celebrated chief of Quebec, you know and ex- 
perience how he is the terror of the Iroquois, and his mere 
name makes them tremble, since he ravished their country 
and carried fire into their villages- There are beyond the 
sea ten thousand Onnontios like him, who are but the 
soldiers of this grand chief, our great king, of whom I am 
speaking. When he says the word, " I am going to war," 
every one obeys him and those ten thousand chiefs raise 
companies each of one hundred soldiers, both on land and 
sea. Some embark in ships, one to two hundred in number, 
such as you have seen at Quebec. Your canoes carry four 
or five men, or, at the highest, from ten to twelve. Our 
French ships carry four, five hundred and even as many as a 
thousand. Others go to war on land, but in numbers so 
great, that, ranged in double file, they would reach from here 
to Mississaquenk, although we count more than twenty 
leagues till there. When he attacks, it is more terrible than 
thunder; the earth trembles, the air and sea are on fire with 
the discharge of his cannon. He has been seen in the midst 
of his troops, covered all over with the blood of his enemies, 
of whom so many have been put to the sword by him, that 
he does not count the scalps, but only the streams of blood 
which he has caused to flow. He carries ofi" so great a num- 
ber of prisoners of war, that he makes no account of them , 
but lets them go wherever they like, to show that he does not 
fear them. At present no one dares to make war on him ; 
all those living beyond the sea have sued him for peace with 
the greatest submission. From all parts of the world people 



112 

go to see him, to hear and admire him. It is he alone that 
decides all the affairs of the world. What shall I say of his 
riches? You esteem yourselves rich, when you have ten or 
twelve sacks of corn, some hatchets, beads, kettles, or some 
other things similar. He has more cities belonging to him 
than there are men among you in all these countries in five 
hundred leagues around. In each city there are stores in 
which enough axes could be found to cut down all your 
forests ; enough kettles to boil all your moose, and enough 
glass beads to fill all your wigwams. His house is longer 
than from here to the head of the SauLt, that is, more than 
a half a league ; it is higher than the highest of your trees, 
and it holds more families than the largest of your villages 
can contain.^" 

The Father added many other things of this kind, which 
were listened to by these people with wonder, all being 
astonished to learn that there was a man on earth so great, 
so rich, and so powerful. 

After this discourse Monsieur de Lusson spoke and declared 
to them, after the manner of a warrior and in an eloquent 
way, the objects for which he had convoked them, especially 
that he was sent to take possession of this country, to re- 
ceive them under the protection of this great king, whose 
panegyric they had just heard, and to make only one land of 
theirs and ours. The whole ceremony was concluded with a 
beautiful bonfire, which was lighted at night, when the " Te 
Deum " was sung to thank God, in the name of these poor 
people, that they were henceforth to be the subjects of so 
grand and powerful a "monarch."^ 



1 The ^ood Father indulged in hyperbolic lang-uage. to impress his 
dusky hearers with a great idea of the grandeur of the "Gi-and Monarch," 
Lou is XIV. 

2 See "Hist, and biog. notes" in regard to the most important actors 
and witnesses of this great convocation. 



113 
CHAPTER XXIX. 



The Mission of the Holy Ghost at the Extremity of Lake 
Superior abandoned ; Father Marquette goes to 

MiSSILIMACKINAC. 

"^These quarters of the north have their Iroquois just as 
well as those of the south. Such are certain tribes called 
Nadouessi, who have rendered themselves formidable to all 
their neighbors, because they are naturally warlike, and, al- 
though they use only the bow anid arrow, they use them 
with such skill and dexterity, that in a moment the air is 
filled with them, especially when, like the Parthians, they 
turn their face in flying, for then they are no less to be feared 
when they flee than when they attack. 

They dwell on the banks and in the vicinity of the great 
river called Mississippi. They consist of no less than fifteen 
villages, pretty well settled. Still they do not know how to 
cultivate the land, so as to plant or raise anything. They 
content themselves with a kind of marsh rye that we call 
wild rice, which the prairies supply spontaneously. They 
divide the ground whereon this wild rice grows, so that each 
one can reap his own separately, without trespassing upon 
his neighbor's patch. 

They are located about sixty leagues from the end of Lake 
Superior, towards sun-set, in the midst of the tribes of the 
westj all hostile to them by a general league against the 
common foe. 

They speak a language altogether peculiar and entirely 
difierent from that of the Algonquins and Hurons, whom 
they surpass by far in generosity, often being satisfied with 
the glory of having been victorious and sending the prisoners 
back free, whom they had captured in battle, without doing 
them any harm. 

Our Outaouacs and Hurons of La Pointe du Saint Esprit 
had until now preserved a kind of peace with them. Affairs 
having become embroiled, however, last winter, so that some 
murders were even committed on both sides, our Indians had 
reason to fear that the storm might burst upon them. They 

"Relation" of 1671, pp. 39, 40. 



114 

considered it safer to leave the place, which in fact they did 
in the spring (of 1671) when they withdrew to the Lake of 
the Hurons. The Outaouacs went to live on the Island of 
Ekaentouton (Manitoulin) with those of their tribe, who last 
year had gone there in advance and where we afterwards 
established the mission of St. Simon. The Hurons settled 
on the famous island of Missilimackinac, where we com- 
menced last winter the mission of St. Ignace. 

As in such like migrations people's minds are not calm 
enough, Father Marquette, who had charge of this mission 
of the Holy Ghost, had more to suffer than to do for the con- 
version of those people. With the exception of some children 
whom he baptized, the sick he consoled, and the instructions 
he continued for those who make profession of Christianity, 
he was unable to pay much attention to the conversion of 
the rest. He was obliged like them to abandon this post, to 
follow his flock, undergo the same hardships and encounter 
the same dangers as they, to go to this country of Missili- 
mackinac, where they had formerly dwelt. They have good 
reason for preferring this locality to many others on account 
of the advantages we have mentioned above, and also be- 
cause the climate seems to be entirely different there from 
that of the surrounding country ; for the winter is somewhat 
short, not having began till long after Christmas and ended 
towards the middle of March, when we saw spring return. 



CHAPTER XXX. 



Father Marquette at St. Ignace. 

" The^ Hurons of the Tobacco tribe, called TionnontatCy 
having been formerly driven from their country by the 
Iroquois, fled to this island, named Missilimackinac, so 
famous for its fishery. They could only stay a few years, 
however, the very same enemies obliging them to leave this 
very advantageous post. They withdrew, therefore, still 
further to the islands which still bear their name, and are 
located at the entrance of the Bay of the Puants. Not find- 
ing themselves sufficiently safe, however, even there, they 

1 Relation of 1672, pp. 33 and 36. 



115 

went far back into the woods, and from there finally chose 
as their last dwelling-place the extremity of Lake Superior, 
in a place called La Pointe du Saint Esprit. There they 
were far enough aw ly from the Iroquois not to fear them,, 
but they were too near the Nadouessi, who are, as it were, 
the Iroquois of these quarters of the North, being the most 
powerful and war-like people of this country. 

Still all proceeded peaceably enough for several years 
until the last (1671), when the Nadouessi having been irri- 
tated by the Hurons and Outaouacs, war broke out between 
them, and it began so furiously that several prisoners taken 
on both sides were consigned to the flames. 

The Nadouessi, however, did not wish to begin any act of 
hostility until after they had returned to Father Marquette 
some pictures of which he had made them a present, so as 
to give them some idea of our religion and thus to instruct 
them by the eye, as he was unable to do otherwise on ac- 
count of their language, which is altogether different from 
the Algonquin and Huron. 

Enemies so formidable soon struck terror into the heart 
of our Hurons and Outaouacs, who determined to abandon 
La Pointe du Saint Esprit and all the fields they had so long 
cultivated. 

In their flight the Hurons, remembering the great advan- 
tages they had formerly found at Missilimackinac, turned 
their eyes thither, as to a place of refuge, which they actually 
reached a year ago. 

This place has all the advantages that can be desired by 
Indians. Fish is abundant there at all seasons, the land is 
productive, and the chase for bears, deer and lynx is carried 
on with great success. Besides, it is the great rendezvous of 
all the tribes who are going to or coming from the north or 
south. 

For this reason, foreseeing what since has actually taken 
place, we erected a chapel there last year already, in order to 
receive those passing by and to attend to the Hurons, who 
have settled there. 

Father Marquette, who has followed them from La Pointe 
du Saint Esprit, still has charge of them. As he has not 
given us any particular memoirs of what has taken place in 
this Mission (of St. Ignace), all that can be said of it is that 
this tribe, having been formerly raised in the Christian 



116 

religion prior to the destruction of the Huron nation, those 
who have persevered in the faith are at present very fervent. 
They fill the chapel every day— yes, even often during the 
day do they visit it. They sing the praises of God with 
a devotion which has thus been communicated, in a great 
measure, to the French, who have witnessed it. Adults 
have been baptized and old men set a good example to the 
children to go to prayers diligently. In a word, they prac- 
tice all the exercises of piety that can be expected of Chris- 
tians formed over twenty years ago, although for the greatest 
part of that time they were without a church and pastor, 
having no other teacher than the Holy Ghost." 



CHAPTER XXXI. 



Subsequent Career of Father Marquette — He Discovers 
AND Explores the Mississippi — Returns to the Bay 
OF the Puants (Green Bay). 

Father Marquette left I^a Pointe du Saint Esprit in the 
spring of 1671. He did not reach Sault Ste. Marie in time for 
the great gathering there on the 14th of June of that same 
year, as his name is not to be seen on the document drawn 
upon that occasion and signed by all the Fathers present.* 
He found at Missilimackinac a chapel built the winter before 
by 'Father Dablon. He also found there 380 Christian 
Hurons and 60 Outaouac Sinagaux. The latter were as yet 
pagans, but eager to embrace Christianity. They attended 
prayer meetings regularlv and brought their children to 
have them baptized. During the summer of 1671 Father 
Marquette went to the Sault, in company with Father 
Allouez. He was only absent two weeks, but so much were 

1 We have compiled this narrative of Father Marquette's voyage of dis- 
covery, his last ti-ip to the Illinois, aod his death on the east shore of Lake 
Michigan, from the " Relations" as given in Shea's " Discovery and Explora- 
tion of the Mississippi," which work, as well as all others of this gifted author, 
we take great pleasure in recommending to our readers. 

2 See "Hist, and biog. Notes " in regard to the signers of the " procez- 
verbaux" drawn up at the formal taking possession of the Ottawa country, 
in the name of the King of trance. Mai-quette did 7iot sign that document. 
He probably left liis Mission at the head of Ashland Bay early in the spring 
of 16T1, probably as soon as navigation opened on Lake Superior. No doubt 
his people, dreading a Sioux massacre, left as soon as practicable. 



117 

his Indians attached to him that they counted the days a,nd 
received him with every demonstration of joy at his return. 

In 1672 Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac, succeeded 
M. de Courcelles as governor of Canada. As soon as he 
arrived, M. Talon, the Intendant, laid before him the plan of 
exploring the Mississippi River. For this great undertaking 
they chose the Sieur Jolly et, wishing to have Father Mar- 
quette accompany him. On the 8th of December, 1672, 
feast of the Immaculate ConcejJtion, Jollyet arrived at St. 
Ignace, Mackinaw, and told Father Marquette the joyful 
news of their appointment to visit and explore the Missis- 
sippi. The pious missionary was more than glad. For 
years he had longed for an opportunity to visit the " Great 
River." Ever since he had come to the Ottawa country he 
had invoked Mary Immaculate to obtain the grace for him 
to be able to visit the nations on the Mississippi. Now his 
prayer was about to be be heard. He placed his intended 
voyage under the special protection of the Immaculate 
Mother of God, promising her that, should he be so happy 
as to discover the great river, he would call it Conception 
River and give the same name to the first Mission he would 
found among the Illinois. Five Frenchmen volunteered to 
share with Marquette and Jollyet the hardships and dangers 
of so glorious an enterprise. The winter of 1672-3 was 
spent in making the necessary preparations and collecting 
information from the Indians. They drew up a map, on 
which were marked the course of the rivers they were to 
navigate, the names of the tribes and localities through 
which they were to pass, the course of the great river, etc. 
All their provisions consisted of some corn and smoked 
meat. They had two small birch canoes, in which they 
navigated all the way from Mackinaw to the mouth of the 
Arkansas River and back, a distance of over 2,700 miles. 

On the 17th of May, 1673, they started from Mackinaw. 
On his way Father Marquette visited the Menominees on 
Menominee River, This river forms the north-eastern boun- 
dary line of Wisconsin. He there found some good Chris- 
tians and told them he was on his way to explore the great 
river. They were extremely surprised and tried all they 
could to dissuade him from his undertaking. 

They told him he would meet with savage tribes, who 
showed no mercy to strangers, but would crush their skulls 



118 

without any reason whatever ; that war had broken out 
between the tribes living along the proposed route, which 
would leave them exposed to the danger of being killed by 
some roving band ; besides, the great river was very danger- 
ous to such as were unacquainted with the difficult places, 
and was, moreover, full of horrible monsters that devoured 
both man and boat ; that a demon, or manitou, obstructed 
the passage and drowned all who dared to come near; finally, 
that the heat was unsupportable, infallibly causing death. 

Father Marquette thanked them for their advice, which, 
however, he said he could not follow, as there was a question 
.of saving immortal souls, for which he would gladly give up 
his life. He made light of their pretended demon, and said 
they would defend themselves against sea-monsters and 
■guard against the other dangers, too, with which they had 
threatened him. He then had prayers recited, gave them 
some instruction and embarked with his companions. They 
arrived safely at the Mission of St. Francis, at the head of 
Green Bay, where they found more than 2,000 Indian con- 
verts. They went up the Fox River, which was very diffi- 
cult on account of the many rapids, strong current and rocks 
in the bed of the river, which, being sharp, cut their feet 
and injured their canoes, as they were obliged to drag them 
up stream. 

Passing through Lake Winnebago, they entered the Upper 
Fox River and, on the 7th of June, arrived at the village of 
the Mashkoutens. It was situated about two miles from the 
river, on a rising piece of ground, which commanded a 
beautiful view of the surrounding country. There were three 
tribes at the village ; the Mashkoutens, the Miami, and the 
Kikabous. The Miami are described by the Father as being 
brave, intelligent, civil and docile. The other two were rude 
and ignorant. He was agreeably surprised at seeing a large 
cross erected in the midst of the village. It was ornamented 
with all kinds of Indian presents in thanksgiving to the Great 
Spirit for their lucky chase during the past winter. 

The headmen of the village were convoked and Jollyet told 
them he had been sent by the Governor of Canada to discover 
new lands. Father Marquette said he had been sent on the 
part of God, to enlighten them with the light of the Holy 
Gospel. " The master of our lives," he said to them, "desires 
to be known by all the nations. To obey His will, I fear not 



119 

death, to which I am exposing myself in makin» such a per- 
ilous voyage." They then gave the Indians a present, asking 
them for two guides to put them on the way. The Indians 
answered them civilly, offered them a mat as a present, and 
gave them two Miami guides, who went with them some ninie 
miles, as far as the portage between the Fox and Wisconsin, 
helped them to transport their baggage across this portage, 
and then returned to their village. 

Father Marquette and his companions knelt down and most 
earnestly invoked the Blessed Virgin Immaculate, placing 
themselves and the success of their enterprise under her pro- 
tection. This they did every day during their journey. They 
then encouraged one another, and embarked in their frail 
birch canoes on the Meskonsing (Wisconsin), June the 10th. 
Thirty leagues down the river they found indications of rich 
iron- ore. 

On the 17th of June, 1673, their canoes glided into the Mis- 
sissippi, at about 42° 30' of latitude. Father Marquette's 
heart felt an indescribable joy. What he had longed and 
prayed for, during so many years, he now saw fulfilled. He 
beheld the "Great River" of which he had heard so many 
strange tales. Floating down the river, they found at 42° 
the country level, and saw numerous deer, elks, wild geese, 
swans, monstrous fish, one of which struck his little birch 
canoe so rudely that he thought he had run against a snag. 
At 41^ 26' he found turkeys and buflfaloes ; of the latter he 
once saw a herd of four hundred. To guard against being 
surprised by hostile Indians, they used only to make a small 
fire towards night, to prepare their scanty meal, and then they 
slept in their canoes, which they anchored out in the river, 
far enough away from the shore. 

They had traveled over one hundred leagues on the Wis- 
consin and Mississippi without seeing a single human being. 
Finally on the 25th of June, they discovered foot-prints on the 
beach, a beaten path leading into a beautiful prairie country. 
They stopped, examining the path, and concluded that it led 
to some Indian village. Father Marquette and Jollyet fol- 
lowed the path, leaving their companions at the river side, 
cautioning them to be on their guard. No doubt their hearts 
throbbed more violently, not knowing what reception awaited 
them at the hands of a savage and unknown tribe. Silently 
they walked on for about two leagues when they descried a 



120 

village^ on the banks of a river and two others half a league 
farther away. They then recommended themselves most fer- 
vently to God, imploring His divine help. They approached 
so near the village without being observed, that they could 
hear the Indians talking. They then stopped and hallooed 
as loud as they could, to maketneir presence known. At this 
cry the Indians ran out of their cabins. They probably 
recognized them at once as Frenchmen, especially as they 
noticed Father Marquette's cassock, and accordingly knew 
him to be a Black-gown. 

The Indians deputed four old men to go and speak to the 
pale-faced strangers . Two of them carried pipes ornamented 
with feathers. Walking very slowly they now and then 
raised their pipes toward the sun, as if offering it to that 
luminary to smoke, but said not a word. When near, they 
stood still and regarded the two strange visitors from head to 
foot. Father Marquette seeing by these ceremonies, that the 
Indians regarded them with favor, and noticing moreover 
that they had several articles of European manufacture, he 
judged they were on friendly terms with the French. He 
therefore broke silence, asking them who they were. They 
said they were Illinois, and, offering them as a mark of friend- 
ship the calumet, or pipe of peace, they invited them to their 
village. 

At the door of the cabin which they were to enter, stood an 
old man, his hands open and stretched out tow^ards the sun, 
as if to ward off his rays, which, nevertheless, passed between 
his extended fingers and lit up his face. When the Father 
and his companion approached, the old man addressed them 
as follows : ^' How beautiful, Frenchman, is the sun, when 
thou comest to visit us ! AH our village awaits thee, and 
thou shalt enter all our cabins in peace." He then led them 
into his cabin, where a great crowd, as Father Marquette 
graphically describes it, devoured them with their eyes. They 
observed profound silence; hoAvever, occasionally these words 
were heard, spoken in a low voice ; " How good it is, broth- 
ers, that you visit us." They then offered their visitors the 
pipe of peace to smoke which Father Marquette and his col- 



1 This village, called by Marquette Pewarea (Peoria), was situated at the 
mouth of Des Moines River, Iowa; further up the river were the Moingwena 
or Moingonan, after whom the river was named. 



121 

league accepted, after which aU the headmen smoked in honor 
of their guests. 

Soon an invitation came from the head chief of the tribe to 
visit his village, as he desired to hold a council with them. 
On their way thither, the two were accompanied by the whole 
village. The people who had never seen a Frenchman before, 
could not satisfy themselves looking at the strangers. Some 
would sit down on the grass along the path, where they were 
to pass by, others would run ahead and then turn back to 
meet them, thus to get a good look at them. But all this was 
done noiselessly and in a most respectful manner. 

When they arrived at the village of the great chief, they 
saw him standing in front of his cabin in the midst of two old 
men, with their calumet turned towards the sun. He bade 
them welcome in a neat little speech and offered tbem his 
pipe to smoke. 

Seeing them all assembled and silent, Father Marquette spoke 
to them by four presents, which he gave them. By the first 
he told them that he and his party were traveling in peace to 
visit the nations that lived along the great river as far as the 
sea. By the second present, he told them that God who 
had created them had compassion on them, since after so long 
a time in which the}^ had been ignorant of Him, He willed to 
make himself known to all these people ; that he was sent, on 
the part of God for this very purpose, and that it was for them 
to recognize and obey Him. By the third present he said 
that the great chief of the French informed them it was he 
that made peace everywhere, having subdued the Iroquois. 
Finally, by the fourth, he requested them to give him all the 
information they could about the sea and the nations whom 
they would have to pass to get there. 

When Father Marquette had concluded his discourse, the 
chief arose and, laying his hand on the head of a little slave 
whom he meant to give them as a present, he spoke as fol- 
lows : 

" I thank thee. Black-gown and thee, Frenchman, — ad- 
dressing M. JoUyet, — for having taken so much trouble to 
come and visit us. Never was the earth so beautiful, nor the 
sun so bright as today; never was our river so calm nor so 
free from rocks, which your canoes have removed in passing 
by ; never had our tobacco so good a flavor, nor did our corn 
appear so flourishing as we now see it. Behold, here is my 



122 

son, whom I give to thee, that thou mayest know my heart. 
I implore thee to have jDity on m*e and all my people. Thou 
knowest the great Spirit who made us all ; thou speakest to 
him and hearest His word. Ask Him to grant me life and 
health, and do thou come and live with us to make us know 
Him." 

The chief then placed the little slave near them. As a 
second present he gave them the mysterious calumet, which 
they prize more highly than a slave. By this present he 
showed his great respect for the French governor. By the 
third present, he begged of them on the part of all his people, 
not to go any further, on account of the great danger to 
which they would expose themselves. The Father replied 
that he feared not death, and esteemed no happiness greater 
than that of sacrificing his life for the glory of Him who made 
all things. This was a thing beyond their comprehension. 

The council was followed by a great banquet, consisting of 
four dishes, which had to be taken Indian-fashion. The first 
dish was a large wooden plate of sagamity, that is, corn-meal 
boiled in water and seasoned with fat. The master of cere- 
monies put a spoonful of it three or four times into the 
Father's mouth, as one would feed a little child ; he did the 
same to Jolly et. The second dish was a plate offish ; the master 
of ceremonies took some choice pieces, removing the bones, 
blew upon them to cool them, and then put some into their 
mouths. The third dish consisted of a large dog, which had 
been hastily killed and prepared for the occasion, but, learn- 
ing that their guests did not relish dog meat, it was removed. 
The fourth was buffalo meat, of which he put the fattest 
pieces into their mouths. 

The banquet over, they had to visit the whole village, 
which consisted of three hundred lodges. An orator con- 
tinually harangued the multitude, to look at them well, but 
not to molest them. Everywhere they received presents of 
belts and other articles made of bear and buffalo-skins, dyed 
red, yellow and gray. At night they slept in the cabin of 
the chief, when morning returned they took leave of these 
kind-hearted people, telling them they would return in four 
months, and the Father promising to come and live with 
them the next year. On their way to their canoes they were 
accompanied by some six hundred persons, who manifested 



123 

the joy which the visit of the Father had given tliem in every- 
way possible. 

They left the village of the Illinois at three o'clock in the 
afternoon of the 26th of July. Some distance above the Mis- 
souri they beheld two horrid loolfing monsters of the size of 
a calf, painted on the side of the bluff facing the river. Their 
horns and head resembled that of a roe-buck; their look was 
terrifying; eyes red, beard like that of a tiger, face somewhat 
human-like. Their body was covered with scales, and their 
tail so long, that it passed around their body, over their head, 
and turning back between their legs termininated like the 
tail of a fish. Green, red and black were the colors used. 
They were painted so well that the Father thought the work 
could not have been executed by Indians. 

Whilst they were conversing on those horrible-looking 
monsters, their canoes gently floating down the river with the 
current, they heard the noise of a rapid stream emptying into 
the Mississippi. This was the Pekitanoui,^ a large river com- 
ing Irom the northwest. "I never saw anything more fright- 
ful," says he in his journal, "a confused mass of whole trees, 
branches, floating islets, etc., issued forth from the mouth of 
the river with such impetuosity that it was impossible to 
cross over without great danger." 

Having traveled about twenty leagues due south and a 
little less to the southeast, they came to the river called Oua- 
boukigou,^ the mouth of which was at about 36 degrees of 
latitude. Before arriving there they had to pass a place much 
dreaded by the Indians, because they think there is a mani- 
tou, that is, a demon, who devours such as attempt to pass 
loj there. This terrible manitou was a bay with rocks some 
twenty feet high, into which the whole current of the river 
precipitated itself through a narrow channel, causing a fear.- 
ful roaring and splashing, which struck terror into the heart 
of the untutored child of nature. This was the manitou 
spoken of by the Menominees, when they tried to dissuade 
the Father from undertaking his voyage of discovery. He 



1 Pekitanoui, the Missouri. Father Marquette had now reached the 
junction of the Missouri and the Mississippi. 

2 Ouaboukigou, pronounced Wah-boo-ke-goo, "The Ohio, or beautiful 
river, as that Iroquois name signifies. The name given by Marquette became 
finally Ouabache (pronounced Wah-bash), in our spelling Wabash, and is now 
applied to the last tributary of the Ohio," (Shea's Discovery and Explor. of 
the Miss., p. 41.> 



124 

passed these dangerous rapids safely and arrived at the mouth- 
of the Ouaboukigou, a river coming from the east, where the 
Chaouanons/ a very populous tribe, dwelt. In one locality 
there were twenty three villages of that tribe, and in another 
fifteen. They were peaceable and inoffensive ; hence the Iro- 
quois used sometimes to go even as far as their country ta 
secure prisoners, whom they would cruelly burn at the stake. 
A little above this river they found indications of rich iron- 
ore. They began to suffer very much from mosquitoes and 
the heat, which obliged them to construct a kind of tent on, 
their canoes to protect themselves from this double plague. 

As they were gentlj^ floating down the river in their canoes,, 
they suddenly beheld some Indians armed with guns. The 
Father held up the calumet he had received at the village of 
the Illinois, whilst his companions prepared to defend them- 
selves. He spoke to the Indians in Huron, but they did not 
answer. Their silence was interpreted at first as a declaration 
of war. It seemed, however, these Indians were as much 
frightened as their French visitors. Finally the latter were 
given to understand that they should land and eat with the 
Indians. They did so and were regaled with buffalo meat,, 
bear oil, and white plums of an excellent flavor. The Indians 
had guns, axes, hoes, knives, beads, and glass bottles, in 
which they carried their gun-powder. They told Marquette 
they obtained those articles from Europeans^ living eastward 
from there ; that those people had rosaries and images and 
played musical instruments; and some of them were dressed, 
like him. Father Marquette instructed them somewhat and 
gave them some medals. 

This information aroused the party to fresh exertions and 
made them ply their oars with renewed vigor. Both sides of 
the river were lined with cottonwood and elm trees of won- 
derful height and thickness. They could hear the bellowing 
of herds of buffalo; hence they concluded that the country a- 
little back from the river was prairie-land. 

At about 33 degrees of latitude they saw a village near the 
river, called Mitchigamea. Perceiving the strangers the 
Indians quickly prepared to fight. They were armed with 
bows and arrows, tomahawks and war-clubs. They jumped 

1 Pronounced Shah-wah-nons, i. e. Shawnees, "Southerners." 
3 These Europeans were probably Spaniards residing in Florida. 



125 

into their large wooden canoes; some of them occupied the 
Tiver below, whilst others hastened to station themselves 
above the party, so as to cut off their retreat. Those on the 
land ran back and forward, shouting and animating one 
another to_ fight. Some young men even jumped into the 
river to seize Father Marquette's canoe, but the current being 
too strong they had to swim back to the shore. One of them 
threw his war-club at the party, without however hitting 
anyone. In this great danger the Father most fervently in- 
voked the Blessed Virgin Immaculate, while continually 
showing the calumet. At length it was seen by some of the 
old men, who then restrained the young. Two of the head 
meri got into his canoe, throwing down their bows at his feet 
to give him to understand that no harm would be done to 
him and his party. They all disembarked, not, however, 
without some feeling of fear on the part of the Father. He 
spoke to them by signs, as they did not understand any one 
of the six languages he knew. Finally an old man was 
found who could speak a Httle ID-inois. The Father then 
told them, by the presents he made, that he was on his way 
i;o the sea, and he gave them some instr action on God and 
the affairs of their salvation. All the answer he received was 
that eight or ten leagues further down the river he would 
find a large village called Akamsea,^ where he would get all 
the information he desired. The Indians offered them some 
sagamity and fish, and the party stayed at the village over 
night with considerable uneasiness of mind. 

Early next morning they embarked, accompanied by an 
interpreter and ten Indians in a canoe, who rowed a little 
ahead. Having arrived within half a league of Akamsea, 
they saw two canoes coming to meet them. The headman 
stood up in his canoe and showed them the calumet. He 
then sang an agreeable song, offered them the pipe of peace 
to smoke, and then served them with sagamity and corn- 
bread, whereof they partook a little. The people in the 
village in the meanwhile had prepared a suitable place undeo: 
the scaffold of the chief warrior. They spread out fine mats 
made of rushes, on which the Father and his companions 
were invited to sit. Around them sat the chiefs of the tribe, 

1 Akamsea or Akansea was located opposite the mouth of the Arkansas 
yltiver, named after them, on the eastern bank of the Mississippi. 



126 

further back the warriors, and behind them the rest of the 
people. Luckily he found there a young man, who could, 
speak Illinois better than the interpreter whom they had 
brought along from Mitchigamea. Him the Father employed 
as his interpreter, and he spoke to the Akamseas by the 
presents which are generally made on such occasions. They 
wondered at what he told them about God and the mysteries 
of faith, and manifested a great desire to keep him with/ 
them in order to be instructed. 

The Indians told him that they were ten days' journey 
from the sea, but the Father thought they could have made 
it in five. They said they were not acquainted with the 
tribes that dwelt there, because their enemies hindered them 
from having any intercourse with the Europeans there ; that 
the axes, knives and beads they saw had been sold to them 
by tribes living towards the east and partly by a village of 
the Illinois, four days' journey from there towards the west;, 
that the Indians whom they had seen with guns were their 
enemies, who cut them off from all intercourse and trade 
with the Europeans ; finally, that it would be dangerous tO' 
go any further, because their enemies continually sent out 
war-parties on the river, whom they could not encounter^, 
armed with guns as they were and accustomed to war, with- 
out exposing themselves to great danger. 

These Indians were very poor, having only corn and water- 
melons, with but little flesh, as they dared not hunt the 
buffalo on account of their more powerful enemies; still they 
treated their guests as well as their poverty permitted. The- 
chief diet of the people consisted of corn, which grows here 
at almost all seasons of the year. They had large earthen 
pots very well made, also plates of baked earth, which they 
used for a great many purposes. The men wore small 
strings of beads hanging from their nose and ears. The 
women dressed in poor, shabby looking skins, braided their 
hair in two tresses back of their ears, and had no finery of 
any kind to ornament themselves Avith. The Father found 
their language extremely hard to learn, some words being 
simply unpronounceable. Their cabins were constructed of 
bark and were quite large. They slept some two feet above 
ground on a rude kind of bedstead or scaffold constructed at> 
both ends of the lodge. .*f- 



127 

In the evening some of the head men held a secret council, 
designing to kill Marquette and his party, in order to pillage 
their goods. The chief, however, stopped the proceedings, 
sent for his French guests and danced the calumet dance in 
their presence, as a mark of their safety under his protec- 
tion. To remove all fear, he made a present of the pipe to 
the Father. 

Father Marquette and Jollyet deliberated amongst them- 
selves whether they had better push on further or return 
home. Finding themselves in 33 degrees and 40 minutes of 
latitude, they felt confident that they were not far from the 
Gulf of Mexico, about two or three days' journey. More- 
over, they were convinced that the Mississippi empties into 
said gulf and not towards Virginia nor California, whose 
latitude they had already passed. On the other hand, by 
pushing on further they might meet with hostile Indians or 
fall into the hands of the Spaniards, who, no doubt, would 
hold them captives, as intruders into a territory discovered 
and claimed by them, in which case they would lose the 
fruit of all their labors. They had explored the great river 
from the mouth of the Wisconsin to that of the Arkansas ; 
they had learned all they wished to know as to the people 
that lived along its banks, and had entered into friendly 
alliance with them all in the name of the governor of Can- 
ada ; the main object of the voyage having been realized, 
they determined to turn back and report to their respective 
superiors the result of their labors. 

Having rested a day at the village of the Akamsea, they 
left there on the 17th of July, having spent an entire month 
exploring the Mississippi, the Father preaching the Gospel, 
as much as circumstances permitted, to the various tribes 
they met with. They revisited the friendly Illinois at their 
village of Peourea,^ where they had been so kindly received 
on their down-river trip. Father Marquette stopped with 
them three days, preaching to them and instructing them. 
He baptized a dying child which they brought to him just 
as he was about to embark. The saving of this innocent 

1 Father Marquette remarks that on his return trip he entered a beau- 
tiful river rising near the Lake of the Illinois, the Illinois. He had, however, 
promised to vjsit the Illinois of Pewarea, or Peourea, in four moons, and it is 
very probable that he did so, in order to instruct those good people who had 
received him so kindly. It may be, however, that he met a band of said 
Indians somewhere on the Illinois. 



128 

soul recompensed him, as he says, abundantly for all the 
hardships of his journey. 

At 38 degrees they entered the Illinois River, to return 
home by a shorter route. The Father speaks most highly of 
the beautiful countrj'^ through which this river runs. He 
saw there wild cattle, deer, lynxes, geese, ducks, parrots and 
beaver. He found on the river a village of the Illinois, 
called Kaskaskia,^ containing some seventy-four lodges, 
where he was very well received. He promised to return 
and instruct them, which he did in 1675. One of the chiefs 
with some young men accompanied the Father, assisting 
them in making the portage between the head-waters of the 
Illinois River and Lake Michigan. Coasting along the east- 
ern shore of said lake, they arrived safely at the Mission of 
St. Francis Xavier, at the head of Green Bay, towards the 
end of September, having left there towards the beginning 
of June. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 



Last Voyage of Father Maequette. — He founds the 
Mission op the Immaculate Conception among the 
Illinois and Dies on his way back to Mackinaw. 

After his return from his trip down the Mississippi, 
Father Marquette staid at the Mission of St. Francis Xavier, 
at the head of Green Bay, from September, 1673, till Octo- 
ber, 1674. The hardships endured on his voyage had given 
him the dysentery. However, in September, 1674, he felt 
better. He sent the journal of his trip down the Mississippi 
to his Superior, awaiting his orders as to where he was to 
winter. The order came, though at a rather late season of 
the year, to go to Illinois and establish the Mission of the 
Immaculate Conception. This was joyful news to him, as 
it enabled him to fulfill the promise he had made to those 
good Indians to come and instruct them. 

1 "It must be borne in mind that Marquette's Peoria and his and Allouez' 
town of Kaskaskia are quite different from the present places of the nam.e 
in situation." Marquette's Kaskaskia was on the Illinois and Peoria on the 
west side of the Mississippi. {" Discovery," p. 51.) 



129 

He left St. Francis Xavier on the 25th of October, 1674, 
mth two Frenchmen, Pierre Porteret and Jacques. At 
the mouth of the Fox River he learned that five canoes of 
the Pottawatamis and four of the Illinois had already started 
for Kaskaskia. On the 27th they overtook the Indians at 
Sturgeon Bay, where there was a portage of about three 
miles to Lake Michigan. Owing to the inclement weather 
andbad roads, it took three days before the whole party. 
Whites and Indians, had transported their canoes and bag- 
gage across the portage to the lake. October 31st they com- 
menced their journey southward along the western shore of 
Lake Michigan. The Father most of the time walked along 
the beach, except where a river had to be crossed. Novem- 
ber 1st, All Saints' Day, he said Mass at the mouth of a 
small river, probably where Kewaunee now stands. On All 
Soul's Day he said Mass at the mouth of another river, 
probably Two Rivers. 

Their progress was very slow on account of the rough 
weather on the lake. At one time they had to camp five 
days, and soon after again three days. It took them over a 
month to go from the portage of Sturgeon Bay to Chicago 
River. On the 23d of November he had an attack of di- 
arrhea, which finally turned into dysentery. On the 4th of 
December they reached Chicago River, from which there is 
a short portage to the Illinois, on which Kaskaskia was situ- 
ated. He wintered at the portage some six miles down the 
river, being too weak, on account of his illness, to go any 
farther. On the 15th of December the Illinois^ left him to 
proceed to their village. He was thus left alone with his 
two faithful companions. He sent word to the Illinois that 
he would let them know next spring when he would be at 
-their village. On the 14th of December his old malady, the 
dysentery, came on. Two Frenchmen who were trading 
with the Illinois, hearing of the Father's sickness, did all 
they Gould to relieve him, sending him a bag of corn and 
other refreshments. 

On the 26th of January, 1675, three Illinois brought him 
presents from the chiefs of the tribe, namely, two sacks of 
corn, some dried meat, pumpkins and twelve beavers. 

1 The "Relations" always spell the word "Illinois" with one "1," 
though now it is always spelled with double "11." 



130 

They asked him for gun-powder and merchandise. This'- 
shows how little they understood the real object of his visit. 
He sent word to the Illinois that he had come to instruct 
them, not to trade with them ; that he would not give them 
powder, as he and his countrymen came to establish peace 
everywhere, and that he did not wish to see them begin war 
with the Miamis ; moreover that he did not apprehend any 
danger of famine, and, finally, that he would encourage the 
French to trade with them, but they should compensate the 
latter for the beads they had taken from them, whilst one of 
them, called the Surgeon, had come to see him. Consider- 
ing, however, they had come sixty miles to see him, he gave 
them as presents an ax, two knives, three jack-knives, ten 
strings of beads and two double mirrors. 

Some time after Christmas he and his two faithful com- 
panions made a novena in honor of the Blessed Virgin 
Immaculate to obtain, through her intercession, the grace 
not to die without having taken possession of his beloved 
Mission. Their prayers were not in vain ; he recovered 
sufficiently to enable him to go to the Illinois village. 
Speaking of that long dreary winter in his poor bark cabin,, 
he says : " The Holy Virgin Immaculate has taken such 
care of us during our winter here that we have had no want 
of provisions, having yet (March 30th) a large bag of corn^ 
some meat and fat. We have got along very nicely, roy ail- 
ment not having hindered me from saying Mass every day.. 
We have only been able to keep the Fridays and Saturdays 
of Lent." He had all along a presentiment of his death, for 
he told his companions plainly that he would die of his 
ailment, and on that very journey. He made the spiritual 
retreat of St. Ignatius with great devotion and consolation,, 
said Mass every day, confessed and communicated his two 
companions twice a week, and spent the most of the time 
in prayer. 

On the 29th of March he set out and traveled on the Illi- 
nois for eleven days, amidst great suffering. Finally, on 
the 8th of April, he reached Kaskaskia, where he was re- 
ceived as an angel from Heaven. He went from cabin tO' 
cabin, instructing the Indians in our holy faith. Several 
times, also, he assembled the chiefs and head-men, explain- 
ing to them the truth of religion. At length, on Holy- 
Thursday, he convened a general assembly of all the people 



131 

in an open prairie near the village. Mats and bear-skins- 
were spread on the ground for the people to sit on. The 
Father attached four large pictures of the Blessed Virgin ta 
a pole, so as to be seen by all the people. The auditory- 
consisted of five hundred chiefs and head-men, seated in a 
circle around the Father, Fifteen hundred young men stood 
outside this circle, besides a very great number of women 
and children. 

He spoke ten words to them by ten presents that he made- 
them. He discoursed on the principal truths of religion and 
dwelt especially on the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, for 
man's redemption. After the sermon he oflfered up the Holy 
Sacrifice. On Easter Sunday another great meeting of the 
Indians took place, at which he said mass again and preached 
to his Indian hearers with the fiery zeal of an apostle. The 
good people listened to the Father with great joy and appro- 
bation. He told them he was obliged to leave, on account 
of his ailment, and how happy he I'elt at their receiving so 
well the instructions he gave them. They begged of him to 
return as soon as possible. He promised to do so, or if he 
should not be able to come himself, then some other Father 
would take his place and instruct them. They escorted him 
more than thirty leagues of the way, contending with one 
another for the honor of carrying, his little baggage. 

We shall give the particulars of Father Marquette's, death 
in the words of the "Relations." 

" After the Illinois had taken leave of the Father, he con- 
tinued his voyage and soon after reached the Illinois Lake 
(Lake Michigan), on which he had nearly a hundred leagues 
to make by an unknown roate, because he was obliged to take 
the eastern side of the lake, having gone thither by the western. 
His strength, however, failed so much, that his men des- 
paired of being able to bring him alive to their journey's end;, 
for, in fact, he became so weak and exhausted that he could 
no longer help himself, nor even stir, and had to be handled 
and carried like a child. 

" He, nevertheless, maintained in this state an admirable 
equanimity, joy and gentleness, consoling his beloved com- 
panions and exhorting them to suffer courageously all the 
hardships of the way assuring them moreover, that our Lord 
would not forsake them when he would be gone. During: 
his navigation he began to prepare more particularly for 



132 

death, passing his time in colloquies with our Lord, His holy- 
mother, his angel guardian and all Heaven. He was often 
lieard pronouncing these words : " I believe that my Re- 
deemer liveth," or " Mary, Mother of Grace, Mother, of God, 
remember me." Besides a spiritual reading made for him 
every day, he, toward the close, asked them to read him his 
meditation on the preparation for death, which he carried 
about him; he recited his breviary every day; and, although 
he was so low that both sight and strength had greatly failed, 
he did not omit it till the last day of his life, when his com- 
panions induced him to cease, as it was shortening his 
days. 

"A week before his death he had the precaution to bless 
some holy water, to serve him during the rest of his illness, 
in his agony, and at his burial, and he instructed his com- 
panions how to use it. The eve of his death, which was a 
Friday, he told them, all radiant with joy, that it would take 
place on the morrow. During the whole day he conversed 
with them about the manner of his burial, the way in which 
he should be laid out, the place to be selected for his inter- 
ment ; he told them how to arrange his hands, feet and face 
and directed them to raise a cross over his grave. He even went 
so far as to enjoin them, only three hours before he expired, 
to take his chapel-bell as soon as he would be dead, and ring 
it while they carried him to the grave. Of all this he spoke 
so calmly and collectedly, that you would have thought he 
spoke of the death and burial of another, and not of his own. 

" Thus did he speak with them as they sailed along the lake, 
till, perceiving the mouth of a river, with an eminence on the 
bank which he thought suited to his burial, he told them it 
was the place of his last repose. They wished, however, to 
pass on, as the weather permitted it, and the day was not 
far advanced ; but God raised a contrary wind, which obliged 
them to return and enter the river^ pointed out by Father 
Marquette. They then carried him ashore, kindled a little 
fire, and raised a wretched bark cabin for him, where they 
laid him as little uncomfortably as they could ; but they were 



1 "A marginal note says: 'This river now bears the Father's name.' It 
was indeed long- called Marquette River, but from recent maps the name seems 
to have been forgotten. Its Indian name is Notispescago, and according to 

■others, Aniniondibeganining. It is a very small stream, not more than fifteen 
paceslong, beingtheoutletof a small lake, as Charlevoix assures us." (Shea's 

■"Discovery, etc." p. 58.) 



133 

so overcome by sadness, that, as they afterwards said, they 
did not know what they were doing. 

" The father being thus stretched on the shore, like St. 
Francis Xavier, as he had. always so ardently desired, and 
left alone amid those forests — for his companions were 
engaged in unloading — he had leisure to repeat all the acts- 
in which he had employed himself during the preceding days- 
When his dear companions afterwards came up, quite dejected,, 
he consoled them and gave them hopes that God would take 
care of them after his death, in those new and unknown coun- 
tries. He gave them his last instructions, thanked them for 
all the charity they had shown him during the voyage, beg- 
ged their pardon for the trouble he had given them, and 
directed them also to ask pardon in his name of all our 
Fathers and Brothers in the Ottawa country, and then dis- 
posed them to receive the sacrament of penance, which he 
administered to them for the last time. He also gave them a 
paper on which he had written all his faults since his last con- 
fession, to be given to his superior to oblige him to pray more 
fervently for him. In fine he promised not to forget them in 
Heaven, and as he was very kind-hearted and knew them to 
be worn out with the toil of the preceding days, he bade them 
go and take a little rest, assuring them that his hour was not 
so near, but that he would wake them when it was time, as, 
in fact, he did two or three hours after, calling them when 
about to enter his agony. 

When they came near he embraced them for the last time,, 
while they melted into tears at his feet. He then asked for 
the holy water and his reliquar}'', and taking off his crucifix, 
which he wore around his neck, he placed it in the hands of 
one, asking him to hold it constantly opposite him, raised 
before his eyes. Then, feeling that he had but little time to 
live, he made a last effort, clasped his hands, and, with his 
eyes fixed sweetly on his crucifix, he pronounced aloud his 
profession of faith, and thanked the Divine Majesty for the 
immense grace He did him in allowing him to die in the 
Society of Jesus ; to die in it as a missionary of Jesus Christ,, 
and, above all, to die in it, as he had always asked, in a 
wretched cabin, amid the forests, destitute of all human aid. 

"On this, he became silent, conversing inwardly with God; 
yet from time to time words escaped him, "Sustinuit anima 
mea in verbo ejus — my soul hath relied on His word," or 



134 

"Mater die, memento mei — Mother of God, remember me," 
which were the last words he uttered before entering on his 
agony, which was very calm and gentle. He had prayed his 
companions to remind him, when they saw him about to 
expire, to pronounce frequently the names of Jesus and 
Mary. When he could not do it himself, they did it for 
him; and when they thought him about to die, one cried 
aloud: Jesus, Maria, which he several times repeated dis- 
tinctly, and then, as if, at those sacred names, something 
had appeared to him, he suddenly raised his eyes above his 
•crucifix, fixing them apparently on some object which he 
seemed to regard with pleasure, and thus, with a countenance 
all radiant with smiles, he expired without a struggle, as 
gently as if he had sunk into a quiet sleep (May 18, 1675)." 

" His two poor companions, after shedding many tears 
over his body, and, having laid it out as he had directed, 
carried it devoutly to the grave, ringing the bell according to 
his injunction, and raised a large cross near it, to serve as a 
mark for passers-by. When they talked of embarking, one 
of them, who for several days had been overwhelmed with 
sadness, and so racked in body by acute pains that he could 
neither eat nor breathe without pain, resolved, whilst his 
companion was preparing all for embarkation, to go to the 
grave of his good Father, and pray him to intercede for him 
with the glorious Virgin, as he had promised, not doubting 
that he was already in Heaven. He, accordingly, knelt 
•down, said a short prayer, and having respectfully taken 
some earth from the grave, he put it on his breast, where- 
upon the pain immediately ceased; his sadness was changed 
into joy, which continued during the rest of his voyage. 

" God did not choose to suffer so precious a deposite to 
remain unhonored and forgotten amid the woods. The Kis- 
takon Indians, who for the last ten years publicly professed 
Christianity, in which they were first instructed by Father 
Marquette, when stationed at La Pointe du Saint Esprit at 
the extremity of Lake Superior, were hunting last winter 
on the banks of Lake Illinois. As they were returning early 
in spring, they resolved to pass by the tomb of their good 
Father, whom they tenderly loved, and God even gave them 
the thought of taking his remains and bringing them to our 
ohurch at the Mission of St. Ignatius, at Missilimakinac, 
where they reside. 



135 

"They according repaired to the spot and after some 
-deliberation, they resolved to proceed with their Father, as 
they usually do with those whom they respect. They opened 
the grave, divested the body, and though the flesh and intes- 
tines were all dried up, they found it whole, the skin being 
in no way injured. This did not prevent their dissecting it, 
according to custom. They washed the bones and aried 
them in the sun. Then putting them neatly in a box of 
birch-bark, they set out to bear them to the house of St. 
Ignatius." 

" The convoy consisted of nearly thirty canoes in excellent 
order, including even a good number of Iroquois, who had 
joined our Algonquins, to honor the ceremony. As they 
approached our house, Father Nouvel, who is Superior, went 
to meet them with Father Pierson, accompanied by all the 
French and Indians of the place. Having caused the convoy 
to stop, they made the ordinary interrogations to verify the 
fact that the body which they bore was really Father Mar- 
quette's. Then, before landing, he intoned the "De Profun- 
dis " in sight of the thirty canoes still on the water, and of 
all the people on the shores. After this, the body was carried 
to the church, observing all that the ritual prescribes for 
such ceremonies. It remained exposed under a pall stretched 
as if over a coffin all that day, which was Pentecost-Monday, 
the 8th of June (1677). The next day, when all the funeral 
honors had been paid it, it was deposited in a little vault in 
the middle of the church, where he reposes as the guardian- 
angel of our Ottawa Missions. The Indians often come to 
j)ray on his tomb." 



136 
CHAPTER XXXIII. 



Discovery of Father Marquette's Grave at Point St. 
Ignace, Mich. Letter of Very Rev. Father E. 
j acker to the writer, giving a full account op said- 
Discovery made by him. 

Eagle Harbor, Mich., May 4, 1886. 
Rev. Father Chrysostom Verwyst, 0. S. F., Bayfield, Wis. 

Rev. Dear Father: You wish to learn something reliable 
about the discovery of Father Marquette's grave, nine years- 
ago, and about the little share I had in the matter. Want of 
time compels me to be brief. 

Up to the time when I took charge of the Mackinac and 
St. Ignace missions (in 1873), I had given but little atten- 
tion to the question concerning the locality of Father Mar- 
quette's Mission and the church in which his remains were 
deposited (June 8, 1677); hence I had no preconceived, 
opinion in the matter. It was rather news to me that a local 
Indian and French tradition pointed to the head of East 
Moran Bay (south of which the present church and most of 
the village of St. Ignace are located) as the site of the old 
Jesuit Chapel and the grave of a great priest (Kitchi Meka- 
tewikwanaie). This tradition certainly existed as early as 
1821; for about that time an Indian, Joseph Misatago (a very 
honest and intelligent man, still living) met Father Richard 
(of Detroit) lost in the woods back of East Moran Bay, 
whither he had gone '' in search of any traces that might 
exist of the church, where they said the " great priest " was 
buried." Moreover, within the memory of some old persons 
a squaw was living in the neighborhood of St. Ignace at a 
very advanced age, who asserted to have in her childhood 
(probably about, or even before, the middle of the last cen- 
tury) seen a large cross standing on or near the beach of the 
bay, and that this cross marked the site of a church that once 
existed there. The Indian name itself of that little bay goes 
far to show that its shores were once inhabited by Father 
Marquette's Huron flock, for the Ottawas, who settled in the 
neighborhood a little later, called it " The little Bay of the 



137 

Huron Squaws," i. e. where those squaws went for water 
(Nadowekweiamishing). 

The study of the Jesuits Relations (1671-79) soon con- 
vinced me that the tradition rested on a soUd foundation. 
From these records, whose truth fuhiess has never been ques- 
tioned by any man of sense and learning, it plainly appears 
that the mission chapel built by Father Nouvel about 1674, 
in which Father Marquette's bones were buried, stood not, 
as some have supposed, on the Island of Mackinac, or on the 
apex of the southern peninsula, commonly called Old 
Mackinac, but on the point north of the strait, then, as now, 
called Point St. Ignace, The exact spot, however, could not 
be made out from the description of the mission in the Re- 
lations. That second church was built at some little distance 
from the bark chapel, provisionally put up in the winter of 
1673. Close to the church, the Tionontate Hurons, with whom 
that Father had come from Chagaouamigong, lived in a forti- 
fied village. And within sight of that village, probably in 
front of the church, a large cross was erected about 1678. 
This is about all that could be gathered from the Relations. 

My own and Father Dwyer's investigations and vain en- 
deavors to find traces of the old mission (the site of which we 
erroneously surmised to have been on higher ground), helped 
at least to create a lively interest in the matter, and to keep 
the people upon the alert for any chance "find." All we 
ascertained was the former existence of an extensive Indian 
village on the bluff overlooking the part of St. Ignace, called 
Vide Poche, north of the bay of a fortified hill, a good quarter 
of a mile west of the bay, and of a long line of pallisades on 
the low, level ground at the head of the bay. The vestiges 
of the latter were still visible in the shape of a low, straight 
ridge, running south and north; and the Murray brothers 
(the owners of the ground) assured us that they had, in that 
neighborhood, plowed up decayed cedar posts. In digging a 
cellar (in front of what we now believe to have been the 
Jesuits' church), Mr. .David Murray, Sr., had even struck a 
grave once occupied, to judge from silken stuffs and gold bor- 
ders found in it, by some person of distinction. Here then 
in front of the Church, as was once customary, th« cemetery 
would seem to have been located. The ground behind that spot 
was thickly grown over with shrubs and small evergreens. It was 
there the discovery was made. 



138 

In the evening of May 4th, 1877 (very nearly two hundred 
years after Father Marquette's burial), Peter Grondin, a half- 
breed, being occupied in clearing the ground for Mr. Patrick 
Murray, Jr., discovered the rude foundation of a building 
36x40 in size, the smaller side facing the lake. Being advised 
of it, the following day I hastened to the spot. 

The foundation consisted of flat limestones, mostly covered 
with sand or soil. There were no traces of a chimney — a, 
proof that the building had not been an ordinary dwelling 
house. But immediately adjoining it, to the west, there were 
the plain traces of a larger building, divided into apartments 
and furnished with three fire places, one of which — to judge 
from broken implements found in it — had served as a forge. 
(The Jesuit brothers work at all trades.) At some little dis- 
tance behind that complex of buildings, there were the remains 
of a "root-house." The whole plan looked ever so much like 
that of a church, an adjoining sacristy, and residence of priests, 
with workshops, a. s. f., all on a small scale. And now, our 
attention being sharpened, we also discovered, what we could 
have seen before — the traces of seven or eight small log houses, 
in the shape of square ridges, with a heap of stones — the 
ruins of a chimney on one side, and a hollow — ihe former 
cellar — in the middle. These buildings stood at some distance 
south of the presumed church. And nnrth of it was the ground, 
cleared long before, where the stumps of cedar-posts had been 
plowed up. 

A hollow, about five feet deep, in the south-west corner of 
the chimneyless building (just in front of the spot where, in 
our churches, the altar of the Blessed Virgin stands) had at 
once attracted my attention. But excavations were out of the 
question, as the owner of the ground had conscientious scru- 
ples in regard to having the presumable grave of a, holy man 
disturbed. This gave me (and other persons who took an 
interest in the matter) ample time to search historical docu- 
ments before digging up the ground. 

The chief source for ascertaining the exact locality and 
the surroundings of the Jesuit mission was found in the 
second volume of La Hontan's Travels, which contains a de- 
scription and plan of the Michilimackinac (or St. Ignace) 
settlement, as it was in 1688, eleven years after Father Mar- 
quette's burial. At the sight of that plan everything at once 
became clear. There were first, along the southern border of 



139 

ft 

"the little bay, the small houses of the French traders ; next, 
north of these, near the head of the bay, the Jesuits' chapel 
'("some sort of a church," as that writer saucily calls it); then, 
adjoining it to the north, but still on the level ground, the 
Hurons' fortified village; and farther off, on the higher ground 
north of the ba}^, the larger Ottawa village.^ It was impos- 
sible not to recognize the perfect correspondence between that 
plan and the vestiges found on the spot; and every intelligent 
visitor of the ground during that summer (among them 
some historical students) declared himself convinced.- 

At last Mr. Murray's scruples being removed, we obtained 
permission to excavate. Monday, Sept. 3, in the presence of 
probably not far from two hundred persons — people of the 
village and neighborhood, with a few tourists and other 
visitors from a distance — a ditch was drawn across the area 
•of the presumed church; and no traces of former disturbance 
being found in the sandy and gravelly ground, the cellar-like 
hollow in the corner was attacked. The expectation was on 
tiptof^, for by that time almost every one present knew that 
Father Marquette's bones, having been brought to St. Ignace 
in a birch bark box (from his first grave in Lower Michigan) 
were buried together with that box in a small cellar under the 
Jesuits' church; and also that this church had been destroyed 
by fire (in 1705), and never after restored. Had those precious 
Telics been removed before the fire by the missionaries them- 
selves (who burned the chapel to prevent desecration after 

1. The fortified hill north of the bay is not accounted for by La Hontan's 
plan. As this writer does not mention the existence of a French fort, at the 
time of his vjsit, it must be presumed that the fortified quarters of the French 
garrison, which certainly existed a few years later, were not yet built in 1688; 
and the circumstance that the spur-shaped hill in question is separated from 
the ground behind by a very deep ditch, makes it probable that this was the 
French fort mentioned in later reports. The Indians were not in the habit of 
Intrenching themselves in that manner. 

2. La Hontau has the name of an unreliable author. The facts are these: 
That flippant writer did not scruple to invent incidents and misrepresent 
facts, for the gratification of his vanity, or his rancor. Thus, for instance, 
he fabricated a most adventurous voyag-e on a western confluent of the 
Mississippi that has no existence, among- impossible Indian tribes of culture, 
immense wealth, and ridiculously strange manners. But whei'ever these 
personal motives did not come into play, and where the discovei-y of false- 
hood would have been inevitable and imminent, he deserves as much credit 
as the average writer of travels of his time. Now, any fabrication relating 
to the post and mission of St. Ignace would at once have been discovered and 
exposed, and LaHontan knew that. Nor can there any personal motive be 
imag-iiled that might have induced him to give a false description of the 
position of the several buildings and villages. Besides, to all appearance, his 
plan of Michilimackinac (St. Ignace) is borrowed from some contemporaneous 
topographer, and perfectly agrees with later descriptions, e. g. Cadillac's. 



140 

their- departure), or after the destruction by other parties ?" 
Either was possible; but if the remains were gone, some 
trace of the grave or even the bark casket itself might be- 
found. 

The fact that the hollow referred to had been a cellar was 
soon placed beyond question by the digging up of two half 
decayed corner posts and pieces of plank, and by the exposure 
of the original level bottom four or five feet below the general 
surface, and covered with about a foot of decayed vegetable 
matter. On that floor quite a number of articles, the evident 
debris of a wooden building destroyed by fire, were found 
scattered, such as nails, spikes, the hinge of a door, broken 
glassware, blackened pieces of mortar (still plainly showing- 
the imprint of cedar logs, the interstices between which they 
had once filled), superficially burnt pieces of small timber, 
etc. Finally near the western end of the cellar, a parched, 
piece of birch bark came to sight, soon followed by others of 
various size, mostly all more or less scorched. Some of them- 
showed on one side sharply cut edges and inverted borders, 
and on being handed to Indians or half-breeds present, were 
declared by them to be fragments of a large and strong box 
Qmakah). Almost all of these pieces were found underneath 
the floor of the cellar, in a space evidently once dug out for 
the purpose of hurrying something, and now filled with loose,, 
blackened sand, quite different from the surrounding clean 
and pebbly ground. Mixed with that sand and these shred&- 
of bark there were many small globular pieces of apparently 
pure lime, quite soft and damp. (Possibly the box might 
have been covered with a thin layer of lime; this would help 
to account for the fact that the fire reached the box, which 
was not likely if it was covered with sand and gravel.) 
Within the same space we found two fragments of bone, about 
the size of the first and second link of your finger. At last, 
at a depth of about one and a half foot under the floor of the 
cellar, there appeared a large and strong piece of bark, 
scorched on the upper surface only. It rested perfectly level 
on three much decayed sticks, and was plainly still in the- 
same position in which it had first been laid. This piece, 
about one and a half foot in length, plainly was but the frag- 
ment of a larger one, placed under the box, like the pieces 
of bark which you still see the Indians put on the bottom of 
graves. (It would not be strange at all, if the missionaries' 



141 

liad in that matter followed the Indian custom.) That it did 
not form part of the box was shown by one well preserved 
corner's being cut round with a knife. Below that piece the 
ground had not been disturbed. 

A careful search within the space excavated under the floor 
of the cellar led to no further discovery. The evening being 
nearly spent, we left the ground with mixed feelings of sad- 
ness and joy. Our hopes of finding the remains of the saintly 
Father were disappointed, but all present were satisfied, from 
the overwhelming force of circumstantial evidence, that they 
had beheld the spot where Father Marquette's bones had been 
"buried two hundred years ago, and touched the fragments of 
the box in which they had been placed for transportation 
from his first burying place. 

Presuming to be the natural custodian of the articles found 
in the cellar, and with the silent consent of the owner of the 
grounds, I took the fragments of bones and birch bark along 
with me, and caused as much of the debris as I considered 
-serviceable as pieces of evidence, to be brought to my house. 
The following morning duty called me away from home. But 
^reat was my surprise when upon my return, Wedesday even- 
ing, a young man of the place (Joseph Marly, now dead) came 
into my room to hand me a handkerchief full of blackened 
sand and dust, which he had scrajoed up from the bottom of 
the cellar, at some little distance from the deeper hollow, and 
which contained over thirty small pieces of bone from 
difi'erent parts of the human frame, such as the skull, the 
hands or feet, the limbs, the spine, etc. There was not one 
■entire bone among them : they all looked like pieces dropped 
■out of larger bones which had been cracked by the heat. 
Experts, to whom these fragments were handed for examina- 
tion — one of them unaware, at the time, of the discovery and 
its circumstances — declared them to be human, very old, and 
.acted upon by intense heat. A surgeon directed my atten- 
tion to a cut made with some sharp instrument across the 
upper surface of a fragment of the cranium — perhaps by one 
of the Ottawas who dissected the body and scraned the skin 
off the bones before putting them into the box. 

These bones, dug out the day after the discovery, had been 
'Covered with sand, in consequence of the caving-in of the 
western bank of the cellar, near which they la5% and towards 
which we had not extended our search. Their looks and the 



142 

stuff in which they were bedded, as well as the character of 
the finder (who neither expected, nor got any reward), left, 
no room for the least suspicion of fraud. Besides, at the- 
occasion of leveling the ground for the erection of a little 
monument, four years ago, a few more fragments of an exactly 
similar character were found. 

May I suggest the circumstances which would seem to ac- 
count for the scattering of these bones on the floor of the- 
cellar, outside of the grave? It might have happened in this 
manner: 

Some time after the destruction of the church and the 
departure of the missionaries (whose Christian flock had been, 
persuaded by Cadillac to follow him to his new post of Pont- 
chartrain, or Detroit), some of the remaining pagans, being 
aware of the remarkable cures wrought at the Father's tomb, 
may have removed his remains for the purpose of using them 
as charms, or for medicine — you know the custom of those 
poor people; or do they not, in your neighbood also, carry 
bones in their "medicine bags," or grind them to powder for 
external use, e. g. to cure the head-ache by the application of 
ground skull bones ? Now, in taking the bones out of the- 
grave, one of those Indians squatting in front of it, may have 
thrown them on the floor of the cellar, near the opposite 
bank; and there the small fragments, dropping off, remained, 
while the larger bones were distributed among the crowd and 
taken away. The shreds of the partly burned box which 
might have been thrown out, would have been washed back 
into the hollow by the rain, the small particles of bone — from 
the size of a pea to the larger link of your thumb — remain- 
ing imbedded in the sand, would seem to show that the work- 
was done in haste, and not with that pious care which the 
missionaries would have employed had they effected the exhu- 
mation. Besides, they would, in all likelihood, have taken 
out the bones with the box (which after twenty-eight years- 
must have been almost as good as new), before, with sad hearts,, 
they set fire to their dear chapel. Perhaps you will ask, why 
they should not have done so, and taken the precious remains 
along with them to Canada. We would had done so undoubt- 
edly; but it was not their custom. They left the bones of 
their fallen brethren, where they first laid them to rest, on 
the field, as it were, of battle. I know of one exception only, 
in the case of the martyred Brebeuf, whose skull was takea 



143 

from the shores of Lake Huron to Quebec. But his was an 
exceptional death also; nor is it certain that the relic was 
brought thither by his brethren. Father Marquette, whose 
fame towers now above that of his not less worthy companions 
in the western mission, on account of his journey of explora- 
tion, did not hold that prominent position two hundred 
years ago. 

Is it then, you may ask, absolutely^ certain that the modest 
inonument erected by the people of the neighborhood, in the 
city of St. Ignace, marks the true site of Father Marquette's 
grave? I am not yet prepared to say so. But I have not 
heard of, nor can I imagine, any circumstance connected with 
our search, that would warrant any positive doubt. Every 
thing it seems to me, answers the requirements of good cir- 
cumstantial proof so nicely— thousands of judicial decisions 
are rendered on much slighter evidence — that mere chance 
could have brought about such an orderly combination of facts 
with as much probability only, as two alphabets of type, 
scattered on the ground, might be expected to form, in the 
proper succession of letters, the name of Marquette. If you 
or anybody else, are leaning more on the side of doubt, I shall 
not quarrel with you. 

Some of the remains were re-interred under the monument, 
together with specimens of the debris. Other pieces are in 
the possession of a number of the admirers of Father Mar- 
quette, all over the country. The greatest and most interest- 
ing collection (the bones being arranged in a neat casket, pre- 
sented for that purpose, by Rev. Father Faerber of St. Louis) 
will be piously preserved in the Marquette College of Milwau- 
kee. I thought it would be safer there than in the hands of 

Your friend, E. J. 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 



Re-establishment of the Mission op the Holy Ghost 

UNDER THE PATRONAGE OF St. JoSEPH, BY FaTHER 

Baraga; his successors; present state of the Mission; 
conclusion. 

During 164 years the mission of the Holy Ghost at La 
Pointe du Saint Esprit was unattended, namely from 1671, 



144 

when Father Marquette left, until 1835, when Father, after- 
wards Bishop, Baraga arrived. There is no authentic 
record, nor even a tradition, that any Catholic priest ever 
visited this mission during the eighteenth century. 

Bishop Baraga was born on the 29th of June, 1797, in the 
parish of Dobernik, Unterkrain, Austria. He studied law in 
Vienna, then theology in Laibach, where he was ordained in 
1823. Having labored with great zeal for the salvation of 
souls in his fatherland for about seven years, he resolved to 
go to the United States, to labor for the conversion of the 
pagan Indians. 

He left Vienna on the 12th of November, 1830, and, em- 
barking at Havre de Grace, Dec. 1st, landed at New York, 
Dec. 31st. Partly by boat, partly b}'- stage, he traveled via 
Philadelphia and Baltimore to Cincinnati, where he arrived 
in good health on the 18th of January, 1831. He was re- 
ceived with great kindness by Bishop Edward Fenwick, of 
Cincinnati. He describes the Bishop as a most humble, 
kind-hearted, pious and zealous prelate, who greatly re- 
joiced, when Father Baraga told him that he did not intend 
to stay in the city, but that he wished to go to the wild In- 
dians. The Bishop promised to take him along on his next 
episcopal visitation to an Indian mission of his Diocese. 
During the winter Father Baraga attended to the spiritual 
wants of the German Catholics of Cincinnati, and studied 
the Ottawa language under an Indian seminarist, probably 
William Makatebinessi (Black Bird), a full-blooded Ottawa 
from Arbre Croche, who afterwards went to Rome to con- 
tinue his studies, and there died of an injury received at the 
Corso races. 

On the 21st of April, 1831, Father Baraga left Cincinnati 
to go to the Indian mission of Arbre Croche, "Waganakisi" 
(Crooked Tree), now Harbor Springs, where he arrived on the 
28th of May. A few weeks later, Bishop Fenwick arrived, 
and installed the zealous priest as pastor of the Mission, to 
the great joy of the poor Indians. Father Baraga's heart 
overflowed with joy. " Happy day !" says he, writing to 
the Leopoldin Society, "happy day, which has placed me in 
the midst of the wild Indians, with whom I will stay, if it 
be the will of God, until the last breath of my life." Arbre 
Oroche was an old Jesuit mission of the seventeenth century. 
In 1695 it used to be attended by the Fathers stationed at 



145 

Mackinaw, and the baptismal records are still preserved at 
St. Ignace. The first entries are of 1741, and the last of 1765, 
by Father du Jaiinay, acting Cure of Michilimackinac. 

Father Baraga loved his poor Indians with a warm-hearted 
affection, which was reciprocated by them. He praises their 
childlike attachment and humble obedience. They always 
addressed him with the endearing name of father, and be- 
haved like good children towards him. His daily order was 
this : He said mass early, before which an Indian chief 
read aloud, out of a prayer-book, the morning prayers. 
Every evening the bell was rung, the Indians assembled in 
the chapel, devout hymns were sung and night-prayers said, 
after which the Father gave them catechetical instruction to 
ground them more and more in the knowledge and j)ractice 
of religion. On Sundays they had devotions four times in 
the chapel, namely, early in the morning to say morning- 
prayers, then high mass at 10 a. m. Vespers at 3 o'clock 
with instruction ; finally, at sunset, night-prayers. In the 
short space of two and a half months he baptized seventy- 
two Indians, old and young. He lived in the greatest 
poverty, a log-hut covered with bark being his pastoral 
residence. When it rained, he had to spread his cloak over 
his books and papers, to keep them from getting wet ; yet 
he felt happier than many a millionaire in his palace. By 
Jan. 4, 1832, in seven months, he had baptized 131 Indians. 
Between April 22d and June 4th, 1832, he baptized again 
109 pagans, most of whom were adults. Total number of 
l)aptisms in Abre Croche, 461. 

In August, 1832, while the Arbre Croche Indians were on 
their yearly excursion to Canada, to receive the English 
gratuities, Father Baraga printed an Ottawa prayer and 
hymn book and catechism. When present in Detroit for 
this purpose, a priest of the city in a letter, thus briefly, but 
significantly, expressed himself on the character of his 
colleague: "Father Baraga is very poor and lives like a 
Trappist, but his happiness is immeasurably great." 

In the autumn of 1833, having obtained a successor for his 
mission in the person of Father Saenderl, C. S. S. R., Father 
Baraga repaired to the large village on Grand River, near the 
present site of Grand Rapids, Mich., where in the preceding 
spring he had already instructed and baptized a hundred 
pagan Indians, in one day forty -six. He arrived there Sep- 



146 

tember 23d. Here he had to fight whiskey, and for this reason 
drew upon himself the hatred of liquor-traders and their 
victims, the poor, drunken, pagan Indians. He was no longer 
safe in his own house. One night a howling band of drunken 
savages came to take his life, but, finding it impossible to 
break open the door, they were obliged to desist. In sixteen 
months he baptized 170 persons and, finding a successor in 
Father Viszoczky, a Hungarian missioner, he prepared to go 
to La Pointe, Wis. 

He had to wait for the opening of navigation, and in the 
meanwhile attended the white settlers on St. Claire River. 
His heart, however, was with the Indians of Lake Superior. 
He wrote from his mission on the St. Claire: "It appears- 
strange to me to be in a congregation of whites. I live here^ 
in peace and am much more comfortable than among my 
Indians, but I feel like a fish thrown on dry land. The In- 
dian mission is my life. Now, having learned the language 
tolerably well and being in hopes that I will perfect myself 
therein still more, I am firmly resolved to spend the remain- 
der of my life in the Indian mission, if it be the will of God. 
I am longing for the moment of my departure for Lake 
Superior. Many, I hope, will there be converted to the re- 
ligion of Christ, and will find in it their eternal salvation. 
Oh ! How the thought elevates me ! Would that I had wings 
to fly over our ice-bound lakes, so as to be sooner among the 
pagans ! But what did I say ? Many will be converted ! Oh 
no ! If only one or two were converted and saved, it would 
be worth while to go there and preach the gospel. But God^ 
in his infinite goodness, always gives more than we expect."' 

On the 8th of June, 1835, Father Baraga left Detroit with 
as much money as would bring him to Lake Superior, and 
with a box of goods just received from Vienna, for his new 
mission. On the 27th of July he arrived at La Pointe after a 
tedi' ais voyage of eighteen months, in a schooner on Lake 
Superior. Three dollars was all the money he had when he 
arrived at La Pointe. He found a motley crowd there, — 
French, half-breeds, Indians, Americans, etc. With his usual 
zeal he went to work to erect a log chapel, 50x20 ft. and 18 ft. 
high. The work began August 3rd and by the 9th of that 
same month the building was so far completed that he could 
say Mass in it on that day. 



147 

His time was spent during the winter in instructing his- 
Indians, preparing the catechumens for baptism, and com- 
posing books for their instruction. He then wrote the follow- 
ing works: 1, an Otchipwe prayer and hymn-book and cate- 
chism, which even to this day is almost the only prayer-book 
the Indians of Lake Superior use; 2, an extract of the history 
of the Old and New Testament, and a translation of the 
epistles and gospels of the year in the same language ; 3, a 
treatise on the history, character, manners and customs of 
the North-American Indians in German; 4, a popular devo- 
tional work in the Slavonic language. At a subsequent 
period he published four other valuable works : 1, a medita- 
tion book, and 2, a book of instruction on the principal 
events in the life of Christ, the doctrines of Faith, the Com- 
mandments of God and the Church, the Holy Sacraments;: 
and short sermons against the principal vices among Indians, 
3, an Otchipwe-English Dictionary; and 4, a Grammar of the 
Otchipwe language. These works show his great scholarship, 
mental activity, and great zeal for the conversion, enlighten- 
ment, and elevation of the Indian race. 

Father Baraga's poverty at that period of his life reached 
an almost alarming degree. His food consisted principally 
of fish and bread, if both could be had together. At first he 
had two Germans, who used to stop with him, doing the 
cooking; afterwards his sister, who had been married to a 
German Count, then deceased, kept house for him about two 
years. Later he used to take his meals with Mrs. Perinier, a. 
very pious and charitable lady, who is still alive (1886) and 
loves to speak of Father Baraga, his childlike simplicity,, 
kindheartedness, zeal and labors. The people of La Pointe — 
we speak of the Indian portion of them — were then very 
poor. Many of their children ran about naked during the 
greatest part of the year, and in winter had barely a rag to 
cover their nakedness, to protect themselves against the 
rigors of these northern winters. This pained the kindhearted 
Father very much, especially as he had to witness the dis- 
tress and starvation of whole families, without being able to 
do anything for them. His own clothes he managed to pre- 
serve a long time by great care and timely repairing. 

On the 29th of September, 1836, he started for Europe to 
collect funds for his La Pointe mission. In the winter of 
1836-37 he had the first four above-named works printed in 



148 

Paris. In his native country he was received with great dis- 
tinction and listened to by immense crowds. In the spring 
of 1837 he was again on his way to Lake Superior, and on 
the 8th of October he arrived at La Pointe. 

He worked incessantly at the conversion of the pagan 
Indians. From July 25, 1835 to January 1, 1836, he baptized 
186 Indians, half-breeds and whites, many of them adults. 
In all, he baptized in this mission 981. During winter he 
used to travel on snow-shoes from mission to mission, along 
the southern shore of Lake Superior, suffering hunger, cold 
,and other inexpressible hardships and privations. God alone 
knows all this saintly man did and suffered for the love of 
•God and his dear Indians. His spare time he emploj'-ed in 
teaching tbem to sing religious hymns for divine service and 
private devotion, and in making rosaries for them. He some- 
times gave them his own dinner. On Sunday's a large pot 
of corn would be boiled for them, so that those who lived at 
a distance might not be obliged to go home after mass, but 
could stop at the presbytery, or near it, for vespers and ser- 
mon. Out of his own pocket he built for them fourteen neat 
log houses, besides giving them clothes, linen, etc., for their 
half-naked children. In fact, he gave them too much alto- 
gether—so to say — spoiled them through excessive kindness. 

With the funds collected in Europe he finished his church 
in August, 1838, and the annexed presbytery, and on Sunday, 
September 2, of the same year it was dedicated to God under 
the patronage of St. Joseph. This was the old church — the 
first church ever built on La Pointe Island, for Father Mar- 
quette's chapel was not built on the island, as some errone- 
ously imagine, but on the mainland, at the head of Ashland 
Bay, probably about six miles above Washburn, at the south- 
west corner of the bay; neither is there any part of Mar- 
quette's Chapel, nor are there any materials thereof in the 
present church of La Pointe, as such were not even in the 
old chapel, built alongside the Indian cemetery on the south- 
eastern side of said graveyard at Middlefort. The American 
Fur Company gave a log building of theirs to Father Baraga, 
and partly out of it and partly out of new materials the first 
chapel at Middlefort was constructed. On the 7th of Sep- 
tember, 1838, Rt. Rev. Frederic Rese, first Bishop of Detroit 
came to La Pointe, and on the 9th of the same month he 
confirmed 112 Indians and Canadians. 



149 

In the year 1841, Father Baraga built the present church 
of La Pointe, having torn down the old one at Middlefort,. 
which had not been well built. The church was finished in 
July of that year and blessed by Father Baraga on the first 
Sunday of August, 1841, under the patronage of St. Joseph. 
On the 4th of October, 1843, he left La Pointe to start a new 
mission — rather revive the old mission of Father Menard, in 
St. Theresa (now Keweenaw) Bay, of 1660 — this was done with 
the approbation of Rt. Rev. Peter Paul Lefevre, second 
Bishop of Detroit, who sent Father SkoUa to La Pointe and 
gave L'Anse, Michigan to Father Baraga. On the 27th of 
July, 1844, Father Baraga came to La Pointe, and stayed 
there a few weeks to attend to the spiritual wants of his 
former parishioners and prepare many of his Indians for 
confirmation. On the 14th of August 1844, Rt. Rev. John 
Martin Henni, first Bishop, afterwards Archbishop of Mil- 
waukee, visited this most northern mission of his diocese^ 
and on the 16th of said month confirmed 122 Indians and 
Canadians. On the 3d of September, Father Baraga returned 
to L'Anse. Subsequently he made several visits to La Pointe„ 
both before and after his elevation to the episcop^ dignity. 

In L'Anse he labored with his customary zeal and success. 
An humble church was built, heathenish superstition^ 
drunkeness and other vices extirpated, and many Indians, 
even from Lac Vieux Desert and Lac du Flambeau, con- 
verted. It was there he published his OtchiiDwe Dictionary 
and Grammar, which works place him in the foremost rank 
of Indian scholars. In 1853 he was consecrated Bishop of 
Sault Ste. Marie, where for several years he had to perform 
all the duties of a simple parish priest, laboring especially 
among the neighboring Indians. He afterwards transferred 
his See to Marquette. The writer has his first Pastoral letter, 
a curiosity of its kind, a regular Indian document, announc- 
ing to his dear Indians his elevation to the Episcopal dignity. 
Even as Bishop he used to perform all the duties of a simple 
missionary-priest, hearing confessions, instructing children, 
visiting the sick, etc. He died at Marquette, January 19, 
1868. His funeral was attended by all Marquette — Indians 
and whites, Protestants and Catholics vying with one another 
to honor the pious, humble and saintly missionary and 
Bishop, who had passed out of this world to receive in 
heaven the reward of his many labors and hardships. 



150 

On the 4th of October, 1845, feast of St. Francis of Assi- 
siuni, Rev. Otto C. SkoJla, 0. S. F. Str, Obs., arrived in La 
Pointe, where he labored as a true son of St. Francis in 
poverty and fasting, leading an almost eremitical life in 
■silence, prayer, and seclusion from the world for almost 
eight years, having baptized in that length of time 401 
Indians, half-breeds and whites. His last baptismal entry 
was October 7, 1853, on which day, or shortly after, he went 
to labor among the Menominee Indians. In 1854, La Pointe 
was attended for about two months by Rev. Angelus Van 
Paemel. Then came Rev. Timothy Carie, whose baptismal 
entries extend from September 10, 1854 to December 25, 1855, 
when he was succeeded by Rev. A. Benoit and A. Van Paemel, 
Father Benoit's last baptism was on the 25th of July, 1858. 
about which time he left and Father Van Paemel took exclu- 
sive charge of the mission. He was a Belgian by birth, a 
very zealous, mortified and pious man. He attended this 
mission, which then and long after included Superior, for 
nearly four 3^ ears. 

He was succeeded by Rev. John Cebul, who came here in 
June, 186^, and remained in this mission for twelve years. - 
He was remarkable for his great linguistic talent, having 
learned in a comparitively short time three languages, which 
he spoke fluently; English, French and Otchipwe. He was 
universally beloved by all classes. After him Father Keller 
visited the mission from Duluth, in November, 1872, and 
baptized several children. The next resident priest was Rev. 
Dr. Quigly, author of " The Cross and the Shamrock," " The 
Prophet of the Ruined Abbey," and other works of fiction. 
He was never intended by nature, nationality or training for 
an Indian missioner, so his stay was short — about nine 
mionths. Father F. X. Pfaller was his successor. He did much 
for this mission, procured a beautiful altar for the church in 
Bayfield, besides vestments and other valuable articles of 
church furniture. He remained here in Baj'^field for two 
years, and left in August, 1875. During 1876-77 Fathers 
J. B. Genin and Joseph Buh visited the mission, attending 
to the spiritual wants of Indians and whites. In 1878, Father 
A. T. Schuttelhofer visited this mission in January and 
March. On the 19th of June, of the same year, the writer 
arrived and had charge of the La Pointe and Bayfield mission 
for about five months, when he was removed to Superior. 



151 

The mission was now given in charge to the Franciscan 
Order. On the 13th of October, 1878, Fathers Casimir Vogt 
:and John Gafron, 0- S. F., arrived with two lay Brothers. 
They and other Fathers of the same Order have since then 
worked with great zeal and success at the conversion of jjagan 
Indians, of whom they have baptized a great number. They 
have, moreover, established Catholic schools for the religious 
and secular training of Indian and white children. They 
have schools with Sisters at Bayfield, La Pointe, Buffalo Bay, 
Ashland, and Bad River Reservation. They have also an 
Industrial school for Indian girls at Bayfield. The erection and 
maintenance of these schools have cost large sums of money, 
^contributed partlj^ by generous benefactors in different parts 
of the countr}^, and partly by collections made by the inde- 
fatigable, pious and zealous Father Casimir in the pinery 
among the "boys." The Fathers in Bayfield have charge of 
the following missions : 1. Bayfield; 2, Buffalo Ba}^; 3, La 
Pointe; 4, Washburn; 5, Ashland; 6. Drummond; 7, Mason; 
8, Silver Creek; 9, Glidden; 10, Butternut, 11, Fifield; 12, 
Phillipps; 13, Odanah, Indian Reservation, 14, Hurley. 

The same Order has also a residence occupied by three 
Fathers and two Brothers at Superior, Wis. The Fathers 
have a large tract of country under their care. There is, like- 
wise, a Franciscan Residence at Keshina, Shawano Co., Wis., 
among the Menominees, occupied by three Fathers and five 
lay Brothers. They have there a large boarding and industrial 
school, supported by the Government. The same Order has 
a large house at Harbor Springs, the Arbre Croche of Father 
Baraga, where he labored so successfully for the conversion 
of the Ottawas in 1831-32-33. 

It will thus be seen that the sons of St. Francis now have 
charge of all the Indian Missions of Wisconsin, besides sev- 
eral in Michigan. 

On the 23d of August, 1885, the 220th year of the first 
foundation of this Mission by Father AUouez, and the 50th 
anniversary of its reestablishment by Father— afterwards 
Bishop — Baraga, was celebrated with great solemnity. Rt. 
Rev. Kilian C. Flasch, Bishop of La Crosse, celebrated pon- 
tifical high mass, assisted by the Rev. Fathers Collins and 
Boehm of Eau Claire, and Fathers Paulinus Tolksdorf and 
Chrysostom Verwyst, 0. S. F. Rev. Charles F. H. Goldsmith, 
S. T. D., of Chippewa Falls, preached an eloquent sermon, 



152 

reviewing the ancient and modern history of La Pointe Mis- 
sion. He was followed by Father John Gafron, 0. S. F., who 
preached a good sermon on the same subject in Chippewa. 
There were present: Rev. Zeininger, Rector of the Seminary 
of St. Francis, near Milwaukee, Rev. Abbelen, Chaplain of 
Notre Dame Institute in Milwaukee, and Rev. Van de Zande, 
Chancellor of the Archdiocese of St. Louis. 

The weather was beautiful, and the Church of La Pointe 
filled with Indians, from far and near, who had come to honor 
their beloved Father, to whom many of them owed their con- 
version. An immense number of whites were also present 
from Bayfield, Ashland and Washburn. The Church could 
not hold one half of the people. It was tastefully decorated 
by the Indians both within and without. May the good God 
grant His blessing to this Mission, the oldest, except that of 
Father Menard in Keweenaw Bay, in the whole Northwest, 
and, whilst the Christian tourist visits the spots, hallowed 
by the presence of a saintly Allouez, Marquette and Baraga, 
may he contribute a mite to the preservation of the Indian 
Missions founded by them. 



THE KND. 



Biographical and Historical Notes. 



Rise and fall of the Huron Mission ; Martyrdom of 
Father Anthony Daniel, S. J. 

In 1615 the first three Franciscan Fathers of the Recollect 
reform came to Canada ; Father Dennis Jamay labored at 
Quebec, John d'Olbeau at Tadoussac, and Joseph Le Caron 
went to Carragouha among the Hurons. In 1622 Father 
William Poulain visited the Huron mission, which Father 
Le Caron had been obliged to leave, in order to attend the 
Indian tribes in the vicinity of Quebec. In the following 
year Father Nicholas Viel arrived, and with him Father Le 
Caron returned to Carragouha, where they lived in Francis- 
can poverty, and baptized two adults. 

Finding themselves too few in numbers for the great mis- 
sionary field before them, the Recollects invited the Jesuits 
to come and labor with them among the Indians of New 
France. In 1625 the first Jesuit Fathers, Father Charles 
Lalemant, Edmund Masse, and John de Brebeuf, with some 
Recollects, arrived at Quebec. Father Viel prepared to 
descend to Three Rivers to make a retreat, consult his 
superiors, and obtain some necessary articles. Father de 
Brebeuf and the Recollect Joseph de la Roche Dallion were 
to meet him at the trading post, on the descent of the annual 
fur flotilla from the Huron country, and under his guidance 
labor among the Hurons, but they never met. Shooting the 
last rapid in Ottawa river, behind Montreal, the Indian who 
conducted Father Viel, from some unexplained hatred, 
hurled him and a little Christian boy into the foaming 
torrent, and they sunk to rise no more. To this day the 
place bears the name of the Recollect's Rapid. ^ 

1 "Sault au Recollet." 



■ 154 

In 1626 Fathers de Brebeuf, Dallion and de None, after a 
painful voyage, reached Carragouha. Father de Brebeuf 
labored there till 1629, when his superior, Fffther Masse, 
called him to Quebec. He had endeared himself to the poor 
Indians, and when he was on the point of departing, they 
crowded around him: "What! Echon" — that was his In- 
dian name — "dost thou leave us? Thou hast now been 
here three years to learn our language to teach us to know 
thy God, to adore and serve him, having come but for that 
end, as thou hast shown ; and now, when thou knowest our 
language more perfectly than any other Frenchman, thou 
leavest us. If we do not know the God thou adorest, we 
shall take him to witness, that it is not our fault, but thine 
to leave us so." 

Three days after de Brebeuf 's arrival at Quebec, that town 
was captured by the English, led by the French traitor, 
Kirk. All the Fathers, both Franciscan and Jesuit, were 
carried off by Kirk to England. In 1632 Canada was re- 
stored to France, and in 1633 the Jesuits returned to Canada. 
In the following year Fathers de Brebeuf, Daniel andDavost 
began their apostolic labors at the new village, Ihonatiria. 
There they built in September a log house, 36 ft. x 21 ft., 
which, being divided off, gave them a house and chapel. 
The medicine-men did all in their power to raise a persecu- 
tion against the Fathers, but could not succeed. In the 
summer they were joined by Fathers Francis Le Mercier and 
Peter Pijart, and they extended their labors to the neighbor- 
ing villages. In 1636 Fathers Garnier, Chatelain and Isaac 
Jogues arrived. A pestilential sickness ravaged the country 
of the Hurons, and the Fathers, being accused as the authors 
thereof, were maltreated and in great danger of being killed 
by the superstitious savages. Still they labored on, baptiz- 
ing 250 dying children and adults. In 1637 the pestilence 
returned with renewed violence, and the missionaries were 
in constant danger of death, as by the Indian custom any- 
one may strike down a wizard. The mode of life pursued 
by the missionaries confirmed the superstitious suspicions 
of the savages; the mass, their prayers at night, their clock, 
cross, a flag above their cabin, all were in turn suspected. 
In October their cabin was set on tire, and de Brebeuf wrote 
to his superior at Quebec : " We are probabl}^ at the point 
of shedding our blood in the service of our blessed master, 



155 

Jesus Christ. His goodness apparently vouchsafes this 
sacrifice in expiation of my great and countless sins, and to. 
•crown the past services and the great and burning desires of 
all our Fathers here." Council after council was held by the 
Indians ; finally the Fathers were condemned to die, and on 
the day named for their execution, the}'- gave, in accordance 
with Huron custom, their dying banquet. Their undaunted 
demeanor had its effect. Once more de Brebeuf was sum- 
moned to the council, and succeeded in convincing the 
sachems of their innocence. Ashe left the council-hall, he 
saw a medicine-man, his greatest persecutor, tomahawked at 
his side. Believing that in the dusk the avenger had mis- 
taken his victim, he asked : " Was that for me ?" " No," was 
the reply, "he was a wizard, thou art not." 

The missionaries soon regained their popularity, and in 
1638 they baptized two families, besides many individuals. 
Their ranks were now reinforced by the arrival of Fathers 
Jerome Lalemant, Le Moyne, and Du Perron. In the spring 
of 1639 they had nearly 50, who had made their first com- 
munion. But new trials were at hand. The small-pox, the 
greatest scourge of the Indian, broke out among them. The 
terror-stricken Indians ascribed the scourge to the Fathers. 
The crosses on their dwellings were thrown down, tomahawks 
often glittered over their heads, their crucifixes were torn 
from them, and one of them cruelly beaten. Yet the mis- 
sionaries labored on calmly amidst all these trials, and suc- 
ceeded in converting and baptizing many of the sick and 
dying. In 1640 Fathers Charles Raymbaut and Claude 
Pijart arrived. The faith began now to spread, and 1,000 
had been baptized, almost all in danger of death, one-fourth 
heing infants. The Christians and Catechumens became so 
numerous*, that in many villages they formed a considerable 
party, and by refusing to participate in the heathenish rites 
and ceremonies of their countrymen, they drew upon them- 
selves petty persecution and bitter hatred. 

The Iroquois, old enemies of the Hurons, began more and 
more to ravage their country, spreading everywhere dismay, 
ruin, and death. But this was the time of salvation for the 
sorely-tried Huron nation. As famine, disaster and de- 
struction closed around them, they gathered beneath the 
■cross, their only hope. In no town was the chapel large 
.enough to hold the congregation. 



156 

" On the 14th of July, 1648, early in the morning, when 
the braves were absent on war or hunting parties, and none 
but old men, women, and children tenanted the once strong 
town of Teananstayae, it was suddenlj^ attacked by a large 
Iroquois force. Father Anthony Daniel, beloved of all, fresh 
from his retreat at St. Mary's and full of desire for the glory 
of heaven, was just preaching to his flock about that place of 
bliss, urging them to prepare for it in joy, when suddenly a 
cry arose, " To arms ! to arms ! " which, echoing through 
the crowded chapel, filled all with terror. Mass had just 
ended, and Father Daniel hastens to the palisade, where the 
few defenders had rallied. There he rouses their drooping 
courage, for a formidable Iroquois force was upon them. 
Heaven opens to the faithful Christian who dies fighting fof 
his home, but to the unbeliever vain his struggle, temporal 
pain will be succeeded by endless torment. Few and quick 
his words. Confessing here, baptizing there, he hurries along 
the line; then speeds him to the cabins. Crowds gather 
round to implore baptism they had so long refused. Unable 
to give time to each, he baptizes by aspersion, and again hur- 
ries into cabin after cabin to shrive the sick and aged. At 
last he is at the chapel again. 'Tis full to the door. All had 
gathered round the altar for protection and defense, losing 
the precious moments. "FJy, brethren, fly," exclaimed the 
devoted missionary. "Be steadfast till your latest breath in 
the faith. Here will I die ; here must I stay while I see one 
soul to gain for heaven; and, dying to serve you, my life is 
nothing." Pronouncing a general absolution, he urged their 
flight from the rear of the chapel, and advancing to the main 
door, issued forth, and closed it behind him. The Iroquois 
were already at hand, but at the sight of that man thus fear- 
lessly advancing, they recoiled, as though some deity had 
burst upon them. But the next moment a shower of arrows 
riddled his body. Gashed, and rent, and torn, his apostolic 
spirit never left him. Undismayed he stands till pierced by 
a musket ball, he uttered aloud the name of Jesus and fell 
dead, as he had often wished, by that shrine he bad reared 
in the wilderness. His church, soon in flames, became hi& 
pyre, and flung in there, his body was entirely consumed. 

Thus, in the midst of his labors perished Anthony Daniel, 
priest of the Society of Jesus, unwearied in labor, unbroken 
in toil, patient beyond belief, gentle amid every opposition^ 



157 

•charitable with the charity of Christ, supporting and embrac- 
ing all. Around him fell hundreds of his Christians ; and 
thus sank in blood the mission of St. Joseph, at the town of 
Teananstayae. The news of this disaster spread terror through 
the land.^" 

Village after village was abandoned. In vain did the 
missionaries try to arouse the Hurons to a systematic defense 
of their country. Their courage was broken ; they only 
thought of j[ligh"t. New disasters awaited them. On the 16th 
of March, 1649, at daybreak an army of a thousand Iroquois 
burst on the town of St. Ignatius and all were massacred ex- 
cept three, who, half naked, succeeded in reaching the neigh- 
boring town of St. Louis. Sending away the women and 
children, the braves prepared to defend the place. On came 
the Iroquois, but a well directed fire of the Hurons drove 
them back. Yet in spite of their losses the Iroquois pressed 
up to the palisade, and soon effecting an entrance drove back 
the few Hurons and fired the town. The place being de- 
fstroyed the Iroquois collected their captives and began to 
torture them by tearing out their nails. They led them to 
St. Ignatius, where the other captives had been left. There 
they most inhumanly butchered Fathers de Brebeuf and 
Lalement, as shall be described below. This was the death- 
blow of the Huron mission; fifteen towns were abandoned 
and the people fled in every direction. On the 7th of De- 
cember of the same year, 1649, the village Etharita, among 
the Tionnontate Hurons, called also the Tobacco Nation from 
their cultivating large fields of tobacco, was attacked and 
destroyed by the Iroquois; men, women and children mur- 
dered. Among the dead was Father Charles Gamier, whose 
death will be described below, who, true to his sublime 
calling, remained at his post doing his duty like a brave 
rsoldier of the Cross, until a blow from an Indian tomahawk 
put an end to his life. Since the first visit of the Recollect 
Father Le Caron in 1615 till 1649, a period of thirty-four 
years, twenty-nine missionaries had labored among the 
Hurons. Seven of them had perished by the hand of vio- 
lence, eleven still remained; these, like their neophytes, scat- 
tered, seeking to labor elsewhere for the salvation of souls.* 

1 Shea, "Catholic Missions," pp. 185-187. 

2 Fathei' Grelon, one of the survivors of tlie Huron mission, went to 
dhina. Years after, when traveling through the plains of Tartary, he met a 



158 

Heroic Sufferings and Death of Fathers De Brebeuf' 
AND Lalemant, S. J. 

On the 16th of March, 1649, a large Iroquis force, number- 
ing 1000 warriors, attacked the village of St. Ignatius, at 
break of day, while the inhabitants were buried in sleep. 
They carried the place by assault, put men, women and 
children to death and set fire to the cabins. Out of four 
hundred inhabitants, but three escaped to carry the alarm to- 
the village of St. Louis, but a league distant. Before sun- 
rise they attacked the last-named village, soon overpowering 
the eighty Hurons, who defended the place, and killed thirty 
of them. They set fire to the town and cast into the flames- 
the old, the infirm, the wounded, and such small children as 
ha.d been unable to escape. 

In the village of St. Louis, there resided at the time of the 
assault, two Jesuit Fathers, John de Brebeuf and Gabriel 
lialemant. The Relation of 1649, p. 37 says: "Some of 
the Christians had entreated the Fathers to preserve their 
lives for the glory of God, which could have been very easily 
effected, since at the first alarm more than five hundr(jd had 
escaped with ease to a place of security; but their zeal would 
not allow them to do this, and the salvation of their flock 
was dearer to them than the love of life. They employed 
every moment of their time as the most precious of their 
whole lives; and during the hottest of the combat, their 
heart was all on fire for the salvation of souls. One of them 
was at the breach baptizing the Catechumens, the other was 
giving absolution to the Neophytes, and both were busy in. 
animating the Christians to die in sentiments of piety, which 
consoled them in the midst of their misfortunes. 

An unconverted Huron seeing things desperate, spoke of 
flight, but a Christian, named Stephen Annaotaha, the most 
distinguished of the whole village for his courage and for- 
his exploits against the enemy, would not hear of it. "What!" 
he exclaimed, "shall we abandon these good Fathers, who for 

Huron woman whom he had known on the shores of her native lake (Lake 
Huron). Having been sold from tribe to tribe, she had reached the interior- 
of Asia. There, on the steppes of Central Asia, slie knelt and in that tongue, 
which neither had heaid for years, the poor Huron woman confessed once 
more to her aged pastor. It was this fact that first led to the knowledge of 
the near appi-oach of America to Asia. (Shea, "Cath. Missions," who cites 
Charlevoix, Ch. v, p. 45.) 



159 

our sakes have exposed their own lives? The love they 
have for our salvation will be the cause of their death ; there 
is no longer time for them to fly across the snows. Let us 
then die with them and in their company we will go to 
heaven." This chief had made a general confession but a 
few days before, having had a presentiment of the threatened 
danger, and having said that he wished death to find him 
ripe for heaven. And in effect he and many other Christians 
displayed so much fervor, that we can never sufficiently bless 
the ways of God towards his elect, over whom his providence 
watches with love at every moment, in life and in death. 
This whole multitude of Christians fell, for the most part, 
alive into the hands of the enemy and with them our two 
Fathers, the pastors of that church. They were not killed 
immediately; God reserved for them more glorious crowns. 

From the narrative of some fugitive Huron captives, 
who had been eye-witnesses of all the circumstances attend- 
ing their death, the following details are gathered: "Imme- 
diately after their capture, the Fathers were both stripped of 
their clothing, their finger-nails were torn out by the roots, 
and they were borne in savage triumph to the village of St. 
Ignatius, which had been taken on the same morning. On 
entering its gates they both received a shower of blows on 
their shoulders, loins and stomach — no part of their exposed 
bodies escaping contumely. Father de Brebeuf, though 
almost sinking under these cruel blows, and fainting from 
agony and loss of blood, still lost not courage, but his eye 
kindling with fire, he addressed the Christian Hurons, who 
were his fellow-captives, in the following language: 

" My children ! Let us lift up our eyes to heaven in the 
midst of our sufferings; let us remember that God is a wit- 
ness of our torments, and He will soon be our reward exceed- 
ingly great. Let us die in the faith, and trust in his goodness 
for the fulfillment of his promises. I feel more for you than 
for myself; but bear with courage the few torments which 
yet remain; they will all terminate with our lives; the glory 
which will follow them will have no end!" "Echon," such 
was his Huron name, "Echon," they replied, " our hope 
shall be in heaven, while our bodies are suffering on earth. 
Pray to God for us, that He may grant us mercy; we will 
invoke Him even until death." 



160 

Some pagan Hurons, who had proved obstinate under the 
preaching of the missionaries, and who, having been long 
before taken captive by the Iroquois, had become naturalized 
among them, were filled with fiendish hatred at the noble 
freedom with which the captive Father spoke. They rushed 
upon him and Father Lalemant and bound them each to a 
stake. The hands of de Brebeuf were cut ofi", while Lale- 
mant's flesh quivered with the awls and pointed irons thrust 
into every part of his body. This did not suffice; a fire 
kindled near soon reddened their hatchets, and these they 
forced under the armpits and between the thighs of the 
sufferers, while to de Brebeuf they gave a collar of those 
burning weapons, and there the missionaries stood with those 
glowing irons seething and consuming to their very vitals. 

" In the midst of his torments, Father Gabriel Lalemant 
raised his eyes to heaven, joining his hands from time to 
time, and sending forth sighs to God, whom he invoked to 
his succor. Father John de Brebeuf, with the apparent in- 
sensibility of a rock, heedless alike of fire and flame, con- 
tinued in profound silence, without once venting a sigh or 
murmur, which astonished even his executions: without 
doubt his heart was then sweetly reposing in the bosom of 
God. After a brief time, as if returning to himself, he 
preached to those infidels, and more especially to a good 
number of Christian captives, who showed compassion for 
his sufferings. His cruel executioners, indignant at his zeal, 
in order to prevent his speaking any more of God, struck 
him on the mouth, cut off his nose and tore away his lips, 
but his blood spoke more eloquently than his lips, and his 
heart not yet having been torn out, his tongue did not fail to 
aid him in recounting the mercies of God in the midst of 
his torments and in animating more than ever his Christian 
fellow-captives. In derision of baptism, which these good 
Fathers had so charitably administered at the breach and in 
the hottest of the contest, those barbarous enemies of the 
faith bethought themselves of baptizing them with boiling 
water. More than twice or thrice their whole bod}'- was 
inundated with the scalding element, the infidels accompany- 
ing the ablution with heartless jeers: 'We baptize you that 
you may be happy in heaven, for without baptism no one 
can be saved.' Others said, mocking: 'We treat you as 
friends, for we will be the cause of your greater happiness; 



161 

thank us for our good offices, for the more you suffer, the 
more God will reward you.' '' 

" The more their torments were redoubled, the more did 
the Fathers pray, that their sins might not be the cause of 
the reprobation of these blinded infidels, whom the^^^ forgave 

with all their hearts When they were attached to 

the stakes where they endured all these tortures and where 
they were to die, they fell on their knees, embraced the wood 
with joy and kissed it fervently as the cherished object of 
their sighs and prayers and as a certain and last pledge of 
their eternal salvation. They continued in prayer much long- 
er than pleased their barbarous tormentors. They plucked 
out the eyes of Father Gabriel Lalemant, and applied red-hot 
•coals to the orifices from which they had been torn. Their 
sufferings did not take place at the same time. Father John 
de Brebeuf suffered for about three hours and expired at four 
o'clock in the evening of the 16th of March, the same day on 
which the village of St. Ignatius had been captured. Father 
Oabriel Lalemant suffered longer; from six o'clock of that 
evening until about nine o'clock of the following day, the 
17th of March. Before their death the hearts of both were 
torn out, an incision having been made for this purpose under 
the breast, and those barbarians drank their blood while it 

was still warm While they were yet living, pieces of 

flesh were cut from their thighs, arms and legs, which were 
roasted and eaten before their eyes ! Their bodies had been 
gashed all over, and to increase their torments, red-hot tom- 
ahawks were run along the deep incisions. Father John de 
Brebeuf had been already scalped, his feet had been cut off, 
and his thighs denuded to the very bone, and one of his 
•cheeks had been divided by a stroke of the tomahawk. 
Father Gabriel Lalemant had also received a stroke of the 
murderous weapon on his left ear, and the instrument had 
sunk deep into his skull, laying bare the brain ; we could find 
no part of his body, from head to foot, which had not been 
roasted, even while he was living. Their very tongues were 
roasted, burning fire-brands and bunches of bark having been 
repeatedly thrust into their mouths to prevent them from 
invoking while dying, the name and succor of Him, for whose 
love they were enduring all these torments." 

On the morning of the 19th of March the Iroquois suddenly 
fled, being for some unaccountable reason seized with a sudden 



162 

panic. Such prisoners as they could not or would not take 
along, they doomed to a horrible death. 

"As for the prisoners, whom they had doomed to immediate 
death, they bound them to pine stakes driven into the earth 
in the different cabins, to which, in leaving the village, they 
set fire on all sides, taking delight on their departure at the 
piteous cries of those poor victims, perishing in the midst of 
flames, of infants roasted by the side of their mothers, and of 
husbands, who saw their wives roasted near them." 

On the morning of the flight of the Iroquois, the Jesuit 
Fathers of the village of St. Mary's having through some 
Huron captives who had escaped, received intelligence of 
the death of Fathers de Brebeuf and Lalemant, sent one of 
their number with seven Frenchmen as an escort, to find and 
bring back their mortal remains. The messengers on reach- 
ing the spot, where the martyrdom of these illustrious mis- 
sionaries had been consummated, witnessed a scene which froze 
their very souls with horror. Everything betokened the fiend- 
ish barbarity of the merciless Iroquois. Having reverently 
gathered up the mangled remains of the two Fathers, they 
brought them back to the Mission of St. Mary's, where they 
were solemnly interred on the 21st of March, which fell on a 
Sunday. At the funeial all were "filled with so much conso- 
lation and with sentiments of a devotion so tender, that 
every one ardently desired, rather than feared, a similar death; 
and all would have deemed themselves thrice happy, to have 
obtained from God the grace of shedding their blood and 
laying down their lives under similar circumstances. No 
one could bring himself to pray to God for their repose, as if 
they stood in need of prayer ; but all raised their hearts to 
Heaven, where they had no doubt the souls of the departed 
already were."^ 



Glorious Martyrdom of Father Jogues, S. J. 

Father Isaac Jogues, the first missionary to plant the cross 
on Michigan soil in 1642, was born in Orleans, France, of a 
highly respectable family on the 10th of January, 1607. In 
October, 1624, he entered the Society of Jesus at Rouen. 

1 "Relations," pp. 37-53. We cite the Relations of 16i9, as quoted in Spald- 
ing's "Miscellanea," pp. 333-34. 



163 

After his ordination in 1636 he was sent to Canada and' 
labored for some years in the Huron country. In 1642 he 
and Father Raymbault visited Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., where- 
they were well received by the two thousand Indians as- 
sembled there to celebrate the feast of the dead. Father 
Jogues then went to Quebec and on his way back to the 
Huron country, the party, with whom he was traveling, fell 
into a Mohawk ambuscade. The Father might have escaped,. 
but seeing some captives in charge of a few Mohawks, join- 
ing them he surrendered himself in order to assist the 
wounded and dying. Besides Father Jogues there were two 
Frenchmen captured, Couture and Rene Goupil, and some 
twenty Hurons. Couture had slain in the engagement a 
chief and was, therefore, to be tortured. He was stripped,- 
beaten, and mangled. Father Jogues, who consoled him, 
was beaten till he fell senseless, his nails torn out, and the^ 
fingers gnawed to the very bone. 

The Mohawks then started for their village, inflicting all 
manner of cruelty ilpon their defenseless captives. Sailing 
through Lake Cham plain, they descried another party of their 
countrymen on an island, and the captives were made to run 
the gauntlet. The missionary sank under the clubs and iron 
rods. "God alone," he said, "for whose love and glory it is 
sweet and glorious to suffer, can tell what cruelties they 
perpetrated on me then." He was dragged to the scaffold, . 
bruised and burnt; most of his remaining nails were torn out 
and his hands so dislocated, that they never recovered their 
natural shape. On the 14th of August they reached the first 
Mohawk village, where again they were made to run the 
gauntlet, "this narrow path to paradise," amid blows of clubs 
and iron rods, until they reached the scaffold, where new 
tortures awaited them. The missionary's left thumb was 
hacked off by an Algonquin slave; none of the party escaped 
torture. At night they were tied to the ground, with legs^ 
and arms extended, writhing in pain, vainly trying to escape 
the hot coals thrown on them by the children. In two other 
villages the captives were treated in the same cruel manner. 
In a third village he succeeded in baptizing two Huron cate- 
chumens with a few drops of dew found on a corn-stalk 
thrown to him by an Indian. They were all condemned to 
death, but on further consideration the Mohawks reversed 



164 

their first decision, sparing the French prisoners and con- 
demning of the Hurons only three to death. 

The charitable Hollanders at Fort Orange raised a sum of 
money to redeem Father Jogues and his faithful attendant 
Rene Goupil, but their efforts were vain. Soon after a war 
party came in that had been repulsed in an attack on the 
French. They determined to vent their rage upon their 
French captives. Rene Goupil had been seen to make the 
sign of the cross on the forehead of a child and, as the Hol- 
landers had told the Mohawks that the sign was not good, 
the master of the cabin ordered Rene Goupil to be put to 
death. Two young braves set out and meeting Jogues and 
Rene ordered them to return to the village. Conscious that 
death was nigh, they began to say their beads, and arriving 
at the palisade one of the Mohawks buried his tomahawk 
deep in the head of Rene Goupil. Pronouncing the "lioly 
name of Jesus, he fell to the ground. Father Jogues think- 
ing that his hour too had come, knelt at his side to share his 
fate. They dragged him off from his companion's body, 
whom the two Indians killed with repaiited blows of their 
hatchets. 

Father Jogues thus entirely alone among his savage cap- 
tors, devoted his leisure moments to the Huron captives. 
When unfortunate prisoners were brought in to die, he went 
to meet them, instructed, baptized, or confessed them, some- 
times amid the very flames, whilst they were being burnt at 
the stake, for he always assisted them in death. His Mohawk 
captors took him to their hunting grounds and made him do 
the work of their slaves and squaws. When his work was 
done, he would roam about in the woods chanting psalms 
from memory or praying before the sign of the cross carved 
on some tree. 

Several times he was taken to the Hollandish settlement 
of Rensselaerswyk, now Albany, where in August, 1643, he 
wrote to his provincial, giving an account of his captivity 
and sufferings. There he finally succeeded to escape by the 
aid of the Hollandish settlers, especially Van Curler; they 
even periled their own lives in trying to deliver him from 
his masters, who, having been defeated before Fort Richelieu, 
had determined to put him to death. The settlers succeeded 
in appeasing the wrath of his enemies by presents and he 
was conveyed to New Amsterdam, now New York, where he 



165 

was most kindly treated by Governor Kieft and Dominie 
Megapolensis, and in November, 1643, sailed for Europe. He 
was driven on the coast of England and robbed of every- 
thing. Reaching France in a wretched plight, he was soon 
an object of general admiration. Pope Innocent XI. gave 
him permission to say Mass with his mutilated hands, say- 
ing: "It were unjust that a martyr of Christ should not drink 
the blood of Christ." 

He soon returned to Canada. In 1645, peace having been 
concluded between the Mohawk and the French, a new mis- 
sion was projected among them. " We have called it," says 
the Superior, " the Mission of the Martyrs, and with reason, 
since we establish it among the very men who have made 
the gospel-laborers suffer so much, and among whom great 
pains and hardships must still be expected. Good Rene 
Goupil has already met death in their midst, and if it be 
lawful to make conjectures in things, which seem so prob- 
able, it is to be believed that our projects against the empire 
of Satan will not bear fruit till watered with the blood of 
some other martyrs." 

On the 16th of May, 1646, Father Jogues, with the Sieur 
Bourdon, set out for the Mohawk country. At Fort Orange 
he stopped to thank his kind deliverers, and then proceeded 
to the first Mohawk town, called Onewyiure. There he and 
his companion were well received and peace concluded. 
They then returned to Quebec, and after a few days of rest, 
Father Jogues started to return to his mission. Although 
rumors of war were afloat, the devoted missionary pushed 
on. He had, however, a presentiment of his end. "Iboet 
non redibo," are the prophetic words of his last letter : " I 
shall go, but I shall not return." His Huron companions 
gradually forsook him, but he kept on with his faithful com- 
panion, John Lalande. " I shall be too happy," he said, "if 
our Lord deign to complete the sacrifice where he has begun 
it, and make thie few drops of my blood an earnest of what 
I would give Hm frrom every vein of my body and heart." 

Meeting with a party of Mohawks painted for war, the 
Father and his companion were stripped and bound. On 
the 17th of October, 1646, Father Jogues again entered Gan- 
dawague, the place of his former captivity. Entering the 
village, he was received with blows of clubs and fists. He 
was not treated as a common prisoner of war. He was to 



166 

■ die as a sorcerer, for in their superstition they attributed to 
his chest, with its vestments and chapel service, a pestilential 
fever that ravaged their cabins, and the swarm of caterpillars 
that devoured their crops. " You shall die tomorrow !" said 
they, " Fear not ! You shall not be burned ; you shall both 
die under our hatchets, and your heads shall be fixed on the 
palisade, that your brethren may see them, when we bring 
them in captive." In vain did Father Jogues endeavor to 
show them the injustice of treating him as an enemy. Deaf 
to all reason, they began the butchery by slicing off the flesh 
from his arms and back, crying : " Let us see whether this 
white flesh is that of an Otkon" (sorcerer). "I am but a 
man like yourselves," replied the fearless confessor of Christ, 
■^'though I fear not death nor your tortures. I know not 
'why you put me to death. I have come to your country to 
'preserve peace and strengthen the land and to show you the 
way to heaven, and you treat me like a dog. Dread the 
vengeance of the Master of life." 

A council of the Oyanders was called : the Bear family 
clamored for his blood ; but the Wolf and Tortoise opposed 
them firmly, and it was resolved to spare his life. It was 
too late. While the coancil was sitting on the night of the 
18th October, some of the Bear-clan came to invite him to 
sup with them ; he rose to follow, but scarcely had his 
shadow darkened the door of his perfidious host, when an 
Indian, concealed within, sprang forward, and with a single 
blow stretched him lifeless on the ground. The generous 
arm of Kiotsaeton was raised to save him, but, though 
deeply wounded, did not arrest the blow. Father Jogues 
fell dead ; his missionary toil was ended. His companion 
shared his fate, and the rising sun beheld their heads fixed 
■on the north palisade, while their bodies were flung into the 
neighboring stream. After his death miracles were attri- 
buted to him and duly attested ; and the missionaries who, 
at a later date, saw a I'ervent church arise at the place of his 
glorious death, and those who saw it produce that holy 
virgin, Catharine Tegahkwita, ascribed these wonders of 
grace only to his blood. 

Steps have been taken looking towards the beatification 
and canonization of Father Jogues and the Iroquois virgin, 
-Catherine Tegahkwita.^ 

I Shea, " Catholic Missions," pp. 306-208. 



167 
Heroic death of Father Garnier, S. J. 

Father Charles Garnier was born in Paris, in 1605, of an 

^-eminent and j)ious family. He entered the Society of Jesus 
on the 5th of September, 1624. Sent to Canada in 1636, he 
was constantly on the Huron missions, from the 11th of Sep- 
tember of that year till his death on the 7th of Decem.ber, 
1649. He seemed to have been born and to live only for the 
conversion of his Indians ; of nothing else did he think or 
converse. Esteemed by his companions as a saint, his 
letters, still extant, bear testimony to his eminent love of 

'God and zeal for the salvation of souls, as well as his entire 
disengagement from earthly things. As a Huron scholar he 
was next to de Brebeuf, the best in the whole body of mis- 
sionaries. 

" On the 7th of December, 1649, a large Iroquois force 
burst upon the Huron town of Etharita, or St. John, where 
Father Garnier was stationed. On that day the braves of 
that town, tired of waiting for the enemy, had set out to meet 
them, but unfortunately had taken a wrong direction. The 
Iroquois, fearful of being surprised by the returning Hurons, 
cut down all without mercy, and fired the place. Father 
Garnier was everywhere exhorting, consoling, shriving, 
baptizing ; wherever a wounded Indian lay, he rushed to 
gather his dying words ; wherever a sick person or child met 
his eye, he hastened to confer baptism. While thus, re- 
gardless of danger, he listened only to the call of duty, he 
fell mortally wounded by two musket balls; and the Iro- 
quois, stripping him of his habit, hurried on. Stunned by 
the pain, he lay a moment there, then clasping his hands in 

' prayer, prepared to die ; but as he writhed in the agony of 
death, he beheld a wounded Tionontate Huron some paces 
from him. The sight revived him ; forgetful of his own 
state, he remembered only that he was a priest, and rallying 

:all his strength by two efforts, rises to his feet and endeavors 
to walk, but after a few stagering steps falls heavily to the 
ground. Still mindful only of duty, he dragged himself to 
the wounded man, and, while giving him the last absolution, 
fell over him a corpse; another Iroquois had driven a toma- 
hawk into his skull. 

"Father Garreau and Grelon hastened from the other 

'town and buried, amid the ruins of his church, the body of 



168 



the holy missionaiy, the beloved Oracha of the natives, who 
won by hiB mild and gentle manners, entire devotion to them 
and their good, his forgetfulness of all that was not connected 
with their salvation, no less than his perfect knowledge of 
their language and manners had long considered him less a 
Frenchman' than an Indian, or a being of another world sent 
to assume the form." ^ 



The Three Missionary Martyrs op Wisconsin. 

The three martyred missionaries referred to, are Father 
Menard, who perished at the headwaters of Black River, Wis- 
consin, probably by the hand of some roving Indian, and 
two Jesuit Fathers said to have been put to death at the 
place where Depere now stands. Some claim that the word 
Depere is a corruption of "Deux Peres, Two Fathers," that 
name having been given to the town as being the spot where 
they were put to death. 

John Gilmary Shea, a Catholic historian, second to none 
in the United States, in his justly celebrated work, "History 
of the Catholic Missions among the Indian Tribes of the 
United States" — a work which we have freely used in the 
preparation of this little volume — p. 377, speaking of the year 
1765, says: " In this year two Jesuit missionaries are said 
to have been put to death on an eminence by a rapid on the 
Fox River, thence called "LeRapide des Peres," a name pre- 
served in the town of Depere. This may be true, but no 
trace of the fact is to be found in any work of the time. See 
Ann. Prop. II, 121." 

In the annals of the I.eopoldine Stiftung, annal VII, p. 34, 
Father Haetscher, C. S. S. R., writes from Green Bay, under 
date of September 2, 1833. "Speaking of the Fox River, I must 
remark that I have seen in a certain pla'ce there the remains 
of a Jesuit monastery that formerly stood there, which has 
given to the rapids of the river there the name " Rapide des 
Peres," where I found in the ruins a small silver cross. These 
good Fathers were martyred there by the savages. They were 
attacked by the relatives of the Indians, converted by them, 
bound to stakes and boiling water poured over their heads, 

1 Shea, "Catholic Missions," p. 193. 



169 

in order, as the savages mockingly said, to baptize them too, '^ 
No date given. 

Father Van den Broek, who succeeded Fathers Saenderl 
and Haetscher, C. S. S. R., as pastor of the Catholic congre- 
gation of Green Bay, in 1834, speaking of a robbery com- 
mitted by some drunken soldiers of Fort Howard, in his 
church, on the night of Holy Saturday, 1838, says: ''In the 
meanwhile the thieves were busy robbing everything in the 
church, as for instance, a silver monstrance, a ciborium, and 
water-cruets, etc." In a foot-note he says : "These were pre- 
cious objects, which had been found at Rapides des Peres in 
the ground and which had been concealed there when the mis- 
sionary was killed by the Indians. One hundred and fifty years 
ago (this was written in 1847^) there was a Jesuit mission 
and chapel there. But after this occurrence no priest has 
been seen there." Elsewhere he refers to the same fact, say- 
ing that in the "Godsdienstoriend," 1843, p. 260, the origin 
of the name, Rapides des Feres, is explained. 

In the monthly magazine, "Alte unu Neue Welt," No. 5, 
1868, p. 134, Rev. J. V. Badin, who came to visit the Green 
Bay mission, May the 12th, 1825, says: "Although the in- 
habitants of Green Bay form a sample of all colors, and 
although they are for the most part awfully ugly -looking and 
rude in their manners, still morals are much purer here than 
elsewhere. It would only require two Jesuits to take the 
place of the two Fathers who were murdered here about 
sixty years ago (i. e. 1765) or rather who were martyred by 
the hands of cruel savages. I passed a rapid in the Fox 
River, still called " Rapide des Peres," opposite to which is 
the bluff (or hill) where both these martyrs have shed their 
blood for Jesus Christ." 

By the kindness of Father Kersten, a manuscript of Father 
Hypp Hoffen, deceased, was sent to me, in which he writes : 
" In 1765 two Jesuit missionaries, whose names tradition has 
not preserved, were killed on the banks of the Fox River near 
the place, where, in 1676, the church and residence of their 
predecessors had been erected. Although no work of that 
time mentions this fact, the old inhabitants believe it to be certain 
and show the ground that was soaked with the blood of these 
martyrs. Margaret Okeewah, a one hundred year old Indian 

1 " Keize naar Noord-Amerika" etc., door den WelEerwaarden Heer T. J. 
Van den Broek te Amsterdam, by Langenhuyseu, 1847. 



170 

woman, who died February 13. 1868, ascertained the fact, 
saying that her parents often talked to her about two "Black- 
gowns" whom the Indians had massacred, because they had 
cast the lot (an evil charm) on the children of the tribe, 
which made them all die." It seems to be the old super- 
stitious fear of baptism which the Indians regarded as an 
evil charm for the destruction of their children. 

In the " Memoires " of Augustin Grignon of Butte des 
Morts, Wis. (Wis. Hist. Coll., vol. Ill), we find that his great- 
grandfather, on his mother's side, Sieur Augustin de Lang- 
lade, born in France of a noble family about 1695, came with 
his son, Charles de Langlade, born in Mackinaw in 1729, to 
Green Bay between 1744^46. They may be called the 
founders of that <iity. Mr. Grignon's mother, a daughter of 
Charles de Langlade, was born in Green Bay in 1763. Sieur 
Augustin de Langlade died in Green Bay about 1771; his son, 
Charles de Langlade, died there in 1800, and Charles' wife, 
Augustin Grignon's mother, died in 1818. A. Grignon was 
born in Green Bay, June 27, 1780, and he was still alive in 
1857. His own recollections go back as far as 1785. 

Now, in the "Memoires" he nowhere speaks of any mis- 
sionaries having been killed in the vicinity of Green Bay. 
though he mentions a thousand little incidents in the life of 
his maternal grandfather, Charles de Langlade, before and after 
1766, the year when those missionaries are said to have been 
killed. From his silence on the matter we may pretty salely 
conclude, that, if missionaries were killed at Depere, it must 
have occurred before the advent of the first French settlers 
in Green Bay in 1745 It must have happened between 
1721, the year of Charlevoix' visit when Father Chardon was 
stationed at Green Ba}^, and 1745, when Sieur Augustin de 
Langlade settled in Green Bay. The fact that Charlevoix 
knew nothing about the fact in question, would seem to show 
that the event must have taken place after his visit to the 
bay in 1721. 

Moreover, Augustin Grignon remarks: "i am perfectly satis- 
fied that from the first settling in Green Bay in 1745, till Father 
Gabriel Richard, of Detroit, visited it in 1820, no missionaries 
coidd have been there.'" He relates how in 1794 his mother had 
to take her children all the way from Green Bay to Macki- 
naw in a birch canoe to have them baptized by Father Pay et, 
who had lately arrived at the last named place. Hence we 



171 

"think that the date of said martyrdom, 1765, is not correct; 
l3ut we think that the fact itself occurred, for there must 
have existed some reliable tradition upon whfch the story 
of the martyrdom of these priests, as given above, is founded. 
The silence of cotemporary writers does not disprove the 
fact, for the missionary accounts between 1 679 and 1820 are 
very meagre and incomplete. Moreover, the Foxes and Sacs 
were of old enemies of the French, with whom they had sev- 
eral wars, one in 1728, and another in 1746 under Morand, 
when they were defeated at Butte des Morts. It may easily 
have happened that the French missionaries fell into the 
hands of the Foxes and were barbarously murdered by 
them, partly out of hatred of the religion they preached, and 
partly out of 4iatred of the nation they belonged to. The fact 
of the monstrance being found buried in the ground corrob- 
orates this view very strongly, for most likely it was hastily 
buried at an unexpected attack made on the village, and very 
probably there and then the Fathers were captured and put 
to death by the victorious Foxes, the same as de Brebeuf and 
Lalemant had been murdered under similar circumstances. 



Grosseilliers and Radisson, the Pioneers of the 
Northwest. 

The "Relation" of 1660, p. 12, does not give the names of 
the two Frenchmen, who arrived with the Ottawa flotilla in 
1660 at Three Rivers. In vol. V, Minn. Hist. Coll., p. 401, 
two Frenchmen are mentioned as the earliest explorers of 
Minnesota, namely, Medard Chouart, called Sieur des Gros- 
seilliers, and his brother-in-law, Pierre d'Esprit, the Sieur 
Radisson. They visited the Tionnontate Hurons at the 
headwaters of Black River, Wis., and the Dacotah or Sioux 
in the Mille Lacs region of Minnesota. They spent the spring 
and early part of summer on the south shore of Lake Su- 
perior. They are the identical Frenchmen spoken of in the 
"Relation" of 1660. Perhaps they are also the two French- 
men who were ice-bound on Madeline (La Pointe) Island and 
subsequently discovered in a starving condition by some 
Chippewa Indians residing on the mainland where Bayfield 
now stands. "On the 19th of August, 1660, Grosseilliers, by 



172 

way of the Ottawa River, reached Montreal with three- 
hundred of the Upper Algonquins. They had left Lake Su- 
perior with (ftie hundred canoes, but forty turned back, and 
the value of the peltries was 200,000 livres. In a few days 
the furs were sold and on the 28th of August, 1660, Grosseil- 
liers left Three Rivers and again turned his face westward,. 
accompanied by six traders and the rirst missionary for that 
region, the aged Menard, and his servant, Jean Guerin. The 
party passed Sault Ste. Marie and on the 15th of October,, 
1660, were at Keweenaw Bay, and here Father Menard spent 
the winter." 

The authorities for the above statements are not clearly 
indicated. They appear to be " Neill's History of Minne- 
sota," 5th edition, 1883, and the "Journal des ^Tesuites," par 
M. M. les Abbes Laverdiere et Cosgrain, Quebec. 

The Chippewa tradition in regard to these two Frenchmen 
is given by \Vm. W. Warren (Minn. Hist. Coll., vol. V, p. 
121-2), as follows: 

"One clear morning in the early part of winter, soon after 
the islands, which are clustered in this portion of Lake Su- 
perior and known as the Apostles, had been locked in ice, a 
party of young men of the Ojibways started out from their 
village in the bay of Shag-a-waum-ik-ong to go, as was cus- 
tomary, and spear fish through holes in the ice, between the 
island of La Pointe and the main shore, this being considered 
as the best ground for this mode of fishing. While engaged 
in this sport they discovered a smoke arising from a point of 
the adjacent Island, towards its eastern extremity. 

" The island of La Pointe was then totally unfrequented^ 
from superstitious fears, which had but a short time previous- 
led to its total evacuation by the tribe, and it was considered 
an act of the greatest hardihood for anyone to set foot on its- 
shores. The young men returned home at evening and re- 
ported the smoke which they had seen arising from the 
island, and various were the conjectures of the old people re- 
specting the persons, who would dare to build a fire on the 
spirit-haunted isle. They must be strangers, and the young 
men were directed, should they again see the smoke, to go 
and find out. who made it. 

" Early the next morning, again proceeding to their fish- 
ing-ground, the young men once more noticed the smoke 
arising from the eastern end of the unfrequented island, and 



173 

led on by curiosity, they ran thither and found a small log 
■cabin in which they discovered two white men in the last 
stages of starvation. The young Ojibways, filled with com- 
passion, carefully conveyed them to their village, where, 
being nourished with great kindness, their lives were pre- 
served. 

" These two white men had started from Quebec during 
the summer with a supply of goods, to go and find the Ojib- 
wsijs, who every year had brought rich packs of beaver to 
the sea coast, notwithstanding that their road was barred by 
numerous parties of the watchful and jealous Iroquois. 
^Coasting slowly up the southern shores of the Great Lake late 
in the fall, they had been driven by the ice on the unfre- 
quented island, and not discovering the vicinity of the Indian 
village, they had been for some time enduring the pangs of 
hunger. At the time they were found by the young Indians 
they had been reduced to the extremity of roasting and eat- 
ing their woolen cloth and blankets as the last means of sus- 
taining life. 

" Having come provided with goods, they remained in the 
village, exchanging their commodities for beaver-skins. The 
ensuing spring a large number of Ojibways accompanied 
them on their return home. 

"From close inquiry and judging from events which are 
said to have occurred about this period of time, I am dis- 
posed to believe that this first visit of the whites took place 
«,bout two hundred years ago (this was written in 1852). It 
is, at any rate, certain that it happened a few years prior to 
the visit of the " Black-gowns " mentioned in Bancroft's 
history, and it is one hundred and eighty -four years since 
this welJ -authenticated occurrence." 



Nicolas Perrot's Account of Father Menard's Death. ^ 

" Father Menard who had been given to the Outaouas 
{Ottawas) as missionary, accompanied by some Frenchmen, 
who went to that nation to traffic, was abandoned by 
all those he had with him, except one, who rendered him 
until death all the services and help, which he could expect 

1 "Memoire" par Nicolas Perrot, pp. 91, 93. 



174 

from him. This Father followed the Outaouas to the lake ol 
the Illinoets (Illinois — Lake Michigan) and in their flight, on 
the Louisianne (Mississippi) as far as above Black River. It 
was there that only one Frenchman remained to accompany 
this missionary and that the others left him. This French- 
man tollowed carefully the route of the Outaouas and made 
his portage wherever they had made theirs, never leaving the 
river on which they had navigated. One day he found him- 
self in a rapid, which carried him along in his canoe. To 
help him, the Father took some of his baggage out of the 
canoe and did not take the right path to get to him. He got 
on to a trail, much traveled by animals, and in endeavoring 
to get back to the right path, he got entangled in a labarynth 
of trees and went astray. The Frenchman having passed 
the rapids with great difficulty, awaited the good Father, and 
as the latter did not come, he determined to go in search of 
him. He hallooed for him with all his might during several 
days in the woods, hoping to find him, but in vain. How- 
ever he met on the way a Saki (Sac Indian) who was carrying 
the kettle of the missionary, and who gave him an account of 
him (Menard). He assured him that he had found his 
(Menard's) tracks far away in the woods, but that he had not 
seen the Father. He told him that he had also found the 
tracks of several others who were going towards the country 
of the Sioux. He even declared to him that he thought the 
Sioux perhaps had killed him, or that he had been taken by 
them. In fact, many years alter, his breviary and cassock 
were found with that tribe, and they used to expose them at 
their feasts, offering to them their meats." 

The reader will no doubt have noticed the discrepancy 
between the " Relation" and Perrot's " Memoire" in their 
account of Father Menard's death. Ferrot states that Father 
Menard followed the Ottawas (and Hurons) in their flight to 
Lake Michigan and thence to the Mississippi (Louisianne,) as 
far as above Black River. This is evidently a mistake. 
According to the " Relation" of 1663, Father Menard went to 
Keweenaw (St. Theresa) Bay in 1660, and nine months after, 
on the 13th of July, 1661, started to go to the Huron village at 
the headwaters of Black River, where he perished about the 
10th of August ; whereas according to Perrot, the Ottawas 
and Hurons, with whom Father Menard is said to have stayed 
till they left Pelee Island, spent some years on said island^ 



175 

prior to their ascending the Black River. If Perrot's statement 
were true, then Menard and not Marquette, would be the 
discoverer of the Upper Mississippi. 

After the general defeat of the Algonquin tribes by the Iro- 
quois in 1649-50, the Hurons (and Ottawas) settled for some 
years on Mackinaw Island. Thence they fled to some islands 
at the entry of Green Bay, thence to the shores of Green Bay, 
probably at the " Red Clay Banks," about twelve miles below 
the head of the bay, near Dykesville, where they erected a 
poor fort and tried to poison their Iroquois besiegers with 
poisoned corn bread. They went down the Wisconsin and 
up the Mississippi as far as the head of Lake Pepin, where 
they settled on an island, about eighteen miles below 
Prescott. Here they lived some years in peace, till foolishly 
attempting to invade the territory of the Sioux to get 
possession of their hunting-grounds, they were deteated 
by the latter and forced to abandon their island-home. In 
order to get away from their enemies, who were continually 
harrassing them, they sailed up the Black River to its source. 
Here the Hurons constructed a fort, and it was there they 
were in 1661, when Father Menard attempted to bring them 
the consolations of religion, and perished probably within a 
day's journey of their village. The Ottawas had in the mean- 
while pushed on to Lake Superior^ and settled on the shores 
of Ashland (Chequamegon) Bay, on the flat, between Fish 
Creek and Ashland. They were afterwards joined by the 
Hurons, whose village seems to have been on the south- 
western end of said bay, and it was there that Father 
AUouez found both tribes in 1665. Perrot, who came into 
the country of the great lakes about 1665, obtained his 
account from Indian and French reports. He was told that 
Father Menard had been abandoned by the Hurons and that 
he and his faithful companion had followed the route of said 
Hurons, carefully noting the places, where they had made 
portages; but this had reference to the Hurons, whom he had 
met with at Keweenaw Bay, and who were to pilot him to 
their village, but abandoned him at Lac Vieux Desert. This 
Perrot understood of the Hurons on their flight to the head 

1 Before arriving at Chequamegon Bay, they probably lived some years 
at Lac Courte Oreille, which even to this day is called by the Chippewas Otta- 
wa-sagaigan, "Ottawa Lake." An Indian tradition affirms that many of them 
perished on the shores of that lake from starvation, during asevei-e winter, in 
which their provisions entirely gave out. 



176 

of Green Bay and up the Mississippi. I think this sufficiently 
explains the discrepancy in the two accounts. Perrot's state- 
ments are, in the main, correct and reliable, and with the one 
exceptionjust explained, they harmonize with the "Relations." 
Father Menard went from Keweenaw Bay to Ijac Vieux 
Desert, situated on the boundary line between Michigan and 
Wisconsin. There he tarried two weeks, waiting in vain for 
the young Hurons who were to conduct him to their village. 
His scanty stock of provisions beginning to give out, he 
starts with only one Frenchman for the Huron village. 
Their way lay through a country literally sowed with lakes, 
ponds and swamps. They descend the Wisconsin, being 
often obliged to make portages at the many rapids on the 
headwaters of that river. Carefully they follow the route of 
the Hurons, who had abandoned them at Lac Vieux Desert, 
making portages wherever they had made them. Finally 
there remained a long portage from the Wisconsin to Black 
River. It was probably when making their last portage 
along some rapids of the Wisconsin that Father Menard got 
lost and perished. This occurred within perhaps a day's 
journey from the Huron village on Black River. Hence we 
are inclined to think that Father Menard died somewhere 
near the mouth of Copper river, a few miles above Merrill, 
between there and Medford. 



St. Theeesa Bay. 

No bay of Lake Superior now bears the name given by 
Father Menard, but there is no doubt but that St. Theresa 
Bay is what is now called Keweenaw Bay. The " Relation " 
of 1664, p. 6, says that the bay where Father Menard arrived 
on St. Theresa day, Oct. 15th, and where he wintered, was a 
large bay on the south shore of Lake Superior, one hundred 
leagues above the Sault. It cannot be Chequamegon Bay, 
for Father Allouez in "Relation" of 1667, p. 9, expressly 
states that on his way to Chequamegon (Chagaouamigong) 
Bay he passed the bay called by the aged Father Menard 
St. Theresa Bay, where he found some Christian women 
converted by him five years before. 

The word " Keweenaw " is a corruption of the Chippewa 
word " Kakiweonan " (pron. Kah-ke-wa-o-nan), which means 



177 

**' Where they make a short cut by water," and significantly 
denotes the passage Jrom the west shore of Keweenaw Point 
hy way of Portage Lake and Portage River to the east shore 
of said Point. In all probability Father Menard's mission 
■was located at Old Village Point, or " Pikwakwe.waming " 
(Pikwakwewam), "a peninsula in the shape of a knob," 
about seven miles north of the present town L'Anse, Mich. 
Father Menard baptized there some fifty adults and many 
<;hildren. 



Earthquake of 1663. 

We have devoted a chapter to this most remarkable and 
well authenticated earthquake. We thought it would be 
interesting to many of our readers, to tourists and others 
traveling on the St. Lawrence. Besides, this earthquake may 
liave extended to the Lake Superior country. The north 
shore, the Apostles Islands, in fact, this whole region shows 
that it has been the scene of great subterraneous disturb- 
•ances, upheavals and sinkings in bygone times. True, there 
is no written account that said earthquake of 1 663 was felt 
at Lake Superior; but this is easily accounted for. Father 
Menard was no more. Father Allouez arrived in 1665. Had 
any of these missionaries been here in 1663, they would 
doubtlessly have chronicled this event, if an earthquake had 
been felt in this upper country. It extended up the Ottawa 
Eiver, perhaps as far as Georgian Bay and eastward to the 
Atlantic seaboard. It is certainly one of the most remark- 
able and most minutely described earthquakes of modern 
times. 

As regards the supernatural features of the earthquake, we 
.find nothing strange or superstitious in the narrative of the 
" Relations." That an Almighty Being can work miracles is 
^elf-evident. That he has done so is a matter of history. 
The Bible account of the Old and New Testament is full of 
them. Flavins Josephus relates many preternatural signs 
that preceded the destruction of Jerusalem, at which he was 
present. In II. book of the Maccabees, ch. V., we find 
supernatural facts related more wonderful than those men-^ 
tioned in the " Relations." Armed soldiers were publicly 
seen in the air by all the inhabitants of Jerusalem during 



178 

forty days, goin^ through all the manoeavres of warfare. The 
emperor Constantine the Great beheld prior to his celebrated 
battle with Maxentius near the gates of Rome, October 28th, 
A. D. 312, at noonday with his whole army a wonderful 
cross in the skies, with Greek inscription: "En touto nike" — 
" In this thou shalt couquer." The preternatural sights and 
the earthquake combined had a most salutary effect upon 
the inhabitants of the St. Lawrence valley. Hence it was not 
unworthy of the Deity to use such means for so good an 
end : the conversion and moral reformation of thousands of 
people. 



Father Allouez — Short Sketch of his Life and Labors. 

Father Allouez may justly be called the "Apostle of Wis- 
consin," for he is the founder of every Indian mission within 
the limits of our State. On the 1st of October, 1665, he 
arrived at Chagaouamigong (Shagawamikong) and established 
the mission of the Holy Ghost at the head of Ashland Bay. 
Indefatigably he labored there until 1669. Leaving Sault 
Ste. Marie November the 3d of that same year, he arrived 
at the head of Green Bay December the 2d. and having said 
mass with all possible solemnity December 3d, feast of St. 
Francis Xavier, he founded there the mission of St. Francis 
Xavier. Afterwards, in 1671, the mission was removed about 
two leagues up the Fox River to the site of the present city 
of Depere, where in 1676 a beautiful church was built by 
Father Albanel. Ten years later, 1686, Nicolas Perrot, author 
of certain '• Memoires" on the customs, wars, and religion of 
the Algonquin tribes living in the country of the " Great 
Lakes," made a present to said church of Depere of a beauti- 
ful silver monstrance which was found in 1802, buried in the 
ground probably near the site of the old Jesuit Church. 

On the 16th of April, 1670, Father Allouez started from 
St. Francis mission to visit the Outagamies (Foxes) on the 
Wolf, and the Mashkoutens, Miamis, Illinois and Kickapoua 
on the upper Fox river. The last named tribe resided at 
that time about twelve miles below the village of the other 
three tribes, below the junction of the Fox and Wisconsin 
rivers, probably near Alloa (Allouez). Leaving Green Bay 
on the 16th of April, he passed Appleton on the 19th, on 



179 

which day he says he saw an eclipse of the sun. On the- 
evening of that day, which was a Saturday, he arrived at 
the entrance of Lake ^A^innebago and camped there for the 
night. The next day, Sunday, they sailed as far as the mouth 
of Wolf River, and the Father said mass on the spot where 
Oshkosh now stands. He then ascended the Wolf River, and 
on thft 24th arrived at the village of the Outagami, which 
was situated about six miles above " Little Lake St. Francis" 
(probably Lake Winneconne) at, or a little below, Mukwa, 
(Lake Winnebago is called by Allouez, Lake St. Francis). 
He began his missionary labors among them on St. Mark's 
day, April the 2oth, hence he called it St. Mark's Mission. He 
found them plunged in great grief on account of a terrible 
calamity that had in the preceding month of March hap- 
pened to them. An Iroquois party of eighteen men, led by 
two Iroquois who had long been captives among the Potta- 
watamis, attacked a small village of the latter, while the braves 
were away from home. They killed some six men and one 
hundred women and children, and led thirty women into 
captivity. This happened some two days journey from Green 
Bay, probably not far from Manitowoc. The poor people 
were too grief-stricken to listen much to the Father's words. 
He visited them often afterwards and baptized many adults 
and children. 

On the 27th of April, he left St. Mark's mission and on 
the 29th he ascended the upper Fox River, and on the 30th 
arrived at the Adllage of the Mashkoutens, three leagues from 
the junction of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers. The village 
was built about two miles from the bank of the Fox River,, 
on an eminence overlooking a beautiful prairie country, not 
far from a creek with mineral water on the eastern side of 
the river, not far from Corning. He published to them the 
gospel, which they received with great eagerness and docility 
and baptized five children, who were in danger of death. The 
mission was called St. James, whose feast falls on the 1st of 
May, being the day be had announced to them the first 
tidings of salvation. On the 3d of May he departed and in 
three days arrived at his mission of St. Francis. On the 6th 
of the same month he started to visit the Menominees and 
begun there the mission of St. Michael. They were then, 
residing near the mouth of the river, which bears their name. 
As he announced to them the gospel on the 8th of May, he 



180 

•called it St. Michael's Mission, in honor of that great angel, 
the feast of whose apparition falls on that day. In the fall 
of the same year, 1670, he visited again the Mashkoutens on 
the upper Fox River, in company with Father Dablon, 
Superior of the upper Algonquin missions. 

Besides these missions, he established another among the 
Winnebagoes and Pottawatamies on the eastern shore of 
Green Bay, between Bay Settlement and Sturgeon Bay, and 
among the Sacs, whose village was located four leagues up 
the Fox River, somewhere near Little rapids. Father Louis 
Andr6 took charge of the missions in the immediate vicinity 
of Green Bay, and Father Allouez attended those further 
distant. In 1673, when Father Marquette arrived at the 
mission of St. Francis, at the head of Green Bay, he found 
over two thousand fervent Christians belonging to that mis- 
sion and its dependencies. Father Allouez spent almost 
twenty -five years on the Indian missions of Wisconsin and 
Illinois, the greatest part of that time being devoted to 
'Christianizing the Indians of Wisconsin. He died about 1689 
in the mission of St. Joseph, St. Joseph's River, Michigan. 



Father Allouez' Message to the Upper Algonquins. 

The " Relation " of 1665, p. 9, speaking of Father Allouez' 
mission to the upper Algonquin tribes residing in the Lake 
Superior country, says: " Monsieur de Tracy gave the Father 
three presents, which he was to make to those people as soon 
as he would arrive in their country, declaring to them: 

" First, that the king was going to bring the Iroquois to 
reason and consequently uphold their (upper Algonquin) 
country, which was tottering, ready to fall. 

" Secondly, that if the Nadouessiouek (Sioux) who are 
their other enemies, whom they have also on their hands — 
if they do not want to listen to peace he will compel them 
by the force of his arms." 

" The third present was to exhort all the Algonquin tribes 
of those quarters to embrace the faith, of which some have 
liad already some tincture through the indefatigable cares 
and apostolic zeal of Father Rene Menard, who, by a par- 
;ticular conduct of Providence, got lost in their woods, where 



181 

he died of hunger and misery, abandoned by all humaii 
succor. But God, no doubt, will not have abandoned him^ 
as he is everywhere with those who lose themselves for his 
love in the conquest of souls redeemed by the blood of 
Jesus Christ. Some years ago (1656) another one of our 
Fathers, Father Leonard Garreau, having taken the same 
road, with the same Outaouac tribe, with the saine designs for 
the salvation of those souls, met happily with death on the 
second day of his voyage, having been killed in an ambus- 
cade of the Iroquois, who were lying in wait for them." 



Chagaouamigong. 

The word Chagaouamigong (now corruptly written Che- 
quamegon) is used to designate a long point of land at the 
entrance of Ashland Bay, sometimes called Light-house- 
Island. The Relations speak of Chagouamigong Point and 
Bay. Nicolas Perrot speaks of Chagouamigong and applies 
it to the whole country in the neighborhood of said point of 
land. 

Wm. W. Warren, who spoke Chippewa very fluently, it 
being his mother-tongue, though his father was American,, 
says the word means "the soft beaver-dam," and in his work 
" History of the Ojibways," based upon traditions and oral 
statements, Minn. Hist. Coll. vol. V, he relates an Indian 
legend to explain the origin of this name. Here it is : Mena- 
bosho, the great Indian demi-god, who made the earth anew 
after the deluge, once was hunting the great manitou-beaver 
in Lake Superior, which was but a large beaver-pond. The 
beaver, flying from his powerful enemy, took refuge in Ash- 
land Bay. To capture him, Menabosho built a long dam 
from the south shore across the bay to La Pninte Island. In. 
doing so, he would take up handfuls of the soft dirt and 
throw them into the lake, and these are the Apostles Islands. 
Thus the Indians explain the origin of those islands. Dam 
finished, off he starts in pursuit of the great beaver. Already 
he imagines that he has him cornered. But alas ! poor 
Menabosho is doomed to disappointment. The beaver breaks 
through the soft dam and escapes; hence the word Chagaoua- 
mig or Shagawamik, in the locative case Shagawamikong, 
"The soft beaver-dam." 



182 

Bishop Baraga, in his Chippewa-English Dictionary, gives 
the verb jagawamiha and defines it: "There is a long, 
shallow place in the lake, where the waves break "; the letter 
"j" having the French sound of "j" in the words jour, jardin; 
philologists represent this sound (j) by zh, to be pronounced 
like z in azure, glazier. The French "ch" corresponds to our 
English "sh" in show, short, etc. Hence the " Relations " give 
ChagaoiLamigong, instead of Shagaouamigong or as it is some- 
times written Shagawamikong. 

The word is exclusively applied by the Indians at the 
western extremity of Lake Superior to Shagawamikong Point, 
near La Pointe; hence the writer thinks that it is a proper 
noun, the name of a place, given to said point of land by 
the Indians on account of the above-mentioned legendary 
incident. 

A Very Rev. Friend of ours, who is a great Indian scholar, 
suggests the following explanation: The point in question 
was probably first named jagawamiha. " There are long, far 
extending breakers," the participle of which is jaiagawami- 
kag, "where there are long breakers." But later on, the 
legend of the beaver hunt (which is found in other similar 
localities) being applied to the spot, the people imagined the 
word amik (a beaver) to be a constituent of the compound 
and changed the ending in accordance with the rules of their 
language, dropping the final a in jagawamiha and using the 
locative case jagawamihong, instead of the participle jaiaga- 
wamikag. 



Site of the old Jesuit Chapel of Fathers Allouez and 
Marquette ; Picture and Vestment in La Pointe 
Church. 

It is very probable that the bark chapel, built by Father 
Allouez in 1665, was subsequently replaced by a more solid 
structure, as he informs us, that one of the objects of his 
voyage to Quebec in 1667 was to procure French mechanics 
to build a chapel that would be a subject of wonder to the 
Indians, many of whom had never seen anything more pre- 
tentious than their birch-bark wigwams. Father Allouez 
failed in securing as many Frenchmen as he had intended; 
it seems, however, that a few Frenchmen had remained at La 



183 

Pointe du Saint Esprit to trade with the Indians. Besides, 
the "Relation" of 1669 says that there were already two 
chapels built, one at Sault Ste. Marie and the other at La 
Pointe du Saint Esprit. The word used, "bastir," seems to 
imply that those chapels were something more substantial 
than mere bark chapels; in all probability they were log 
buildings, fixed up as nicely as possible, on the walls of which 
the good Fathers hung religious pictures, which served them 
so well in explaining the various mysteries of our holy faith. 

But where stood this old chapel of Fathers Allouez and 
Marquette? It was certainly not on Madeline (La Pointe) 
Island. The "Relation" of 1667 plainly states that Father 
Allouez found at the head of Chequamegon Bay (^^ChagSbonaLUii- 
gong") a large village of Indians, from seven different tribes, 
numbering 800 men capable of bearing arms, and that it was 
there he made his ordinary abode and constructed his chapel. 
Again, the "Relation" of 1660 says that at that time two 
chapels had been actually built, the one at the "Sault" and 
the other at "La Pointe du Saint Esprit." Now, the Jesuit 
map of 1671, drawn up most probably by Marquette and 
Allouez, places the mission of the Holy Ghost on the main- 
land, on the Bayfield peninsula, if it may be called so, at the 
head of Chequamegon Bay, near the southwest corner of 
said bay, between the head of the bay and the modern town 
of Washlourn. Father Marquette's map of 1674, which he 
drew up after exploring the Mississippi, also places the 
mission of the Holy Ghost at the head of Chequamegon Bay. 

There is not a particle of truth in the notion that the old 
Jesuit chapel — often called by tourists, Marquette's church — 
stood on La Pointe Island, nor is any part of said structure 
incorporated into the present church. The La Pointe church 
is, for all that, an object worthy of veneration, as it is the 
oldest catholic church in Wisconsin, dating from 1835. It 
was built by Father, afterwards Bishop Baraga, at Middlefort, 
near the Indian cemetery, on the south-eastern side thereof. 
It was taken down in 1841 and rebuilt, much enlarged, on its 
present site. 

It is currently reported that there is in La Pointe church 
a vestment worn by Father Marquette and left there by 
him. That is another fable which we feel it our duty to ex- 
plode. The vestments there were procured by Bishop Baraga 
and his successors; not one of them dates from the seventeenth 



184 

century. As to the picture — "The takmg down of the body of 
Christ from the cross" — we are not prepared to pronounce on 
its origin. A vague and, as we honestly believe, unfounded 
tradition ascribes it to Father Marquette. That the Father 
had pictures, we know from the "Relation" of 1672, which 
states that the Sioux returned him the pictures he had sent 
them. No doubt the jjicture in La Pointe church is very old 
and crumbled- up, as if it had been for a long time in some 
Indian's medicine-bag. We incline to the opinicm that it 
was brought from Europe by Bishop Baraga. 



Engraved Copper-plate of Tagwagane, Indian Chief of 
La Pointe ; First Arrival of the Chippewas at Sha- 

GAWAMIKONG (ChEQUAMKGON). 

Mr. Warren, speaking of the first arrival of thf* Chippewas 
at La Pointe, says : "The Loon is the totem also of a large 
clan (of the Chippewa nation). This bird is denominated by 
the Ojibways ' Mang,' but the family, who claim it as their 
badge, are known by the generic name of 'Ah-auh-wauh,' 
which is derived by imitating its peculiar cry. This family 
claim the hereditary first chieftainship in the tribe, but they 
cannot substantiate their pretensions further back than their 
first intercourse with the old French discoverers and traders, 
who, on a certain occasion, appointed some of their principal 
men as chiefs, and endowed them with flags and medals. 
Strictly confined to their own primitive tribal polity, the 
allegory of the Cranes (given by Chief Tagwagane in a speech 
held by him at the treaty of La Pointe in 1842, and which 
Warren gives elsewhere in full, in which he claims the chief- 
taincy for the Crane totem) cannot be controverted, nor has it 
ever been gainsaid. 

" To support their claim, this family hold in their posses- 
sion a circular plate of virgin copper, on which are rudely 
marked indentations and hieroglyphics denoting the number 
of generations of the family who have passed away since they 
first pitched their lodges at Shagawamikong and took posses- 
sion of the adjacent country, including the island of La Pointe 
or Moningwanekaning. 

" When I witnessed this curious family register in 1842, it 
was exhibited by Tagwagane to my father. The old chief 



185 

kept it carefully buried in the ground, and seldom displayed 
it. On this occasion he only brought it to view, at the entreaty 
of my mother, whose maternal uncle he was. Father, mother 
and the old chief, have all since gone to the land of spirits,, 
and I am the only one still living who witnessed on that occa- 
sion this sacred relic of former days. 

" On this plate of copper were marked eight deep indenta- 
tions, denoting the number of his ancestors who had passed 
away since they first lighted their fire at Shagawamikong, 
They had all lived to a good old age. 

" By the rude figure of a man with a hat on his head, placed 
opposite one of these indentations, was denoted the period, 
whien the white race first made its appearance among them. 
This mark occurred in the third generation, leaving five gen- 
erations, which have passed away since that important era in, 
their history. 

"Tagwagane was about sixty years of age at the time he 
showed this plate of copper, which he said descended to him 
through a long line of ancestors. He died two years ago (i. e. 
about 1850), and his death has added the ninth indentation 
thereon; making, at this period, nine generations since the Ojibways 
first resided at La Pointe, or six generations since their first 
intercourse with the whites. 

" From the manner in which they estimate their genera- 
tions, they may be counted as comprising a little over half 
the full term of years allotted to mankind, which will mate- 
rially exceed the white man's generation. The Ojibwaya 
never count a generation as passed away, till the oldest man 
in the family has died, and the writer assumes from these, 
and other facts obtained through observation and inquiry, 
forty years as the term of an Indian generation. It is neces- 
sary to state, however, for the benefit of those who may con- 
sider this as an over-estimate, that since the introduction of 
intoxicating drinks and diseases of the whites, the former 
well authenticated longevity of the Indians has been materi- 
ally lessened. 

"According to this estimate, it is now (1852) three hundred 
and sixty years since the Ojibways first collected in one grand 
central town on the Island of La Pointe (about A. D. 1492), 
and two hundred and forty years since they were first dis- 
covered by the white race (about 1612), and seventy-seven 
years after Jacques Cartier, representing the French nation, 



186 

obtained his first formal meeting with the Indians of the inte- 
rior of Canada (in 1535), and fifty -six years (1668 — Warren's 
mistake) before Claude Allouez (as mentioned in Bancroft's 
History of America) first discovered the Ojibways (?) congre- 
gated in the Bay of Shagawamikong, preparing to go on a 
war excursion against their enemies, the Dacotah. 

" From this period the Ojibways are traditionally well pos- 
sessed of the most important events which have happened 
to them as a tribe, and from nine generations back, I am 
prepared to give, as obtained from their most veracious, reli- 
able and oldest men, their history, which may be considered 
authentic." (Minn. Hist. Coll., vol. V.) 



Silver Ceucifix found at Bad River. 

" The circumstance also is worthy of mention, that a few 
years ago (this was written in 1852) an old Indian woman 
dug up an antique silver crucifix in her garden at Bad River 
(Odanah), near La Pointe, after it had been deeply ploughed. 
This discovery was made under my own observation, and I 
recollect at the time it created quite a little excitement 
among the good Catholics of La Pointe, who insisted that the 
great Spirit had given this as a token for the old woman to 
join the church. The crucifix was found about two feet from 
the surface of the ground, composed of pure silver, about 
three inches long and size in proportion. It has since been 
buried at Gull Lake, in the grave of a favorite grandchild of 
the Indian woman, to whom she had given it as a plaything." 
(Wm. W. Warren in Minn. Hist. Coll., vol. V, p. 117.) 

Perhaps this crucifix was given by Father Allouez or Mar- 
quette to some Christian chief or man of distinction and 
buried with him. 



Beautiful Silver Monstrance found in Depere in 1802. 

We copy the following article from the " Wisconsin State 
JournaV of 1878, written by J. D. Butler : 

" Sixteen hundred and eighty-one is the date of the oldest 
tombstone at Plymouth on the hill above the rock where the 
Pilgrim fathers landed. Wisconsin has a relic as old wanting 



187 

five years, attesting the presence of European settlers within 
her borders. It is a memorial as indubitably genuine as the 
Massachusetts gravestone, and more wonderful for many 
reasons. 

" This curiosity by a strange good fortune stands before me 
as I write. It is a silver ornament fifteen inches high and 
elaborately wrought. A standard nine inches high supports 
a radiated circlet closed with glass on both sides and sur- 
mounted with a cross. This glass case, accessible by a wicket, 
was intended to contain the sacramental wafer (the sacred 
host) when exhibited for popular veneration. The sacred 
utensil is called a '^soleil,^' as resembling in shape the solar 
orb, and also a " mmistrance " and an " ostensorium,'^ because 
used to demonstrate or ostentate the holy host- 

" The antiquity of the relic before me is beyond doubt or 
cavil. Around the rim of its oval base I read the following 
inscription, in letters every one of which, though rude, is per- 
fectly legible : 

t Cb SOLEIL a ESTE DONNE PAR Mr. NiCOLAS PeRROT A LA 

Mission de St. Francois Xavier en la Baye des Puants, t 
1686. 

That is in English : "This salary was presented by Mr. 
Nicolas Perrot to the mission of Saint Francis Xavier at Green 
Bay in the year 1686." 

" A lawyer full of skeptical suggestions, like the Satanic 
toad squatting at the ear of Eve, whispers that this inscrip- 
tion might be cut in our time as easily as two centuries ago. 
So, too, it were as easy to write his legal documents, if forged, 
^s if genuine, — yet he believes in them. 

" The ostensorium was sent to me by the Bishop of Green 
Bay. The inscription on it was printed by Shea, "History 
.of Catholic Missions" in 1855. But the shrine on which it is 
engraved had been plowed up fifty-three years before, at De- 
pere, in 1802. Such is the Catholic tradition, which we have 
no reason to distrust. 

" Regarding Perrot, the donor of the ostensory, little was 
Iknown where it was unearthed. But it is now ascertained 
that he was traversing the northwest in 1663 and for a quarter 
of a century thereafter. He was the earliest and ablest of 
those French agents sent west of Lake Michigan to gather up 
fragments of nations scattered by the Iroquois, and con- 
federate them under French leadership against those invet- 



188 

erate foes of France. His adventures, largely in Wisconsin^ 
he wrote out, not for publication, but for the information of 
Canadian governors ("Memoire"). These memoirs, laid up 
in Parisian archives, were never printed till 1864, and remain 
to this day untranslated. The date on the ostensory tallies 
with the period when he was Governor of Green Bay and all 
the Northwest. Such a present was in keeping with his 
devotional proclivities, his fondness for the missionaries, and 
his desire to make his favor for those apostles manifest to 
Indian converts. 

" The mission at Depere — five miles above Green Bay — 
was the oldest west of Lake Michigan, except that at La 
Pointe. It was established sixteen years before the date of 
Perrot's present, that is in 1670. The first chapel was prob- 
ably a bark wigwam, hut in 1676 a fine church was erected 
through the efforts of Father Charles Albanel. The same 
year Father Silvy reported as baptized at that station thirty- 
six adults and one hundred and twenty -six children. But 
within a twelve-month after the benefaction of Perrot, the 
Depere church was burned by pagan Indians. It is natural 
to suppose that at the first alarm the ostensory was buried in 
the earth by its guardians, who sought to save it from sacri- 
legious hands, and who succeeded so well that they were 
never able to recover it themselves. The earth of Depere was 
a sort of Pompeii, sealing up in secrecy and safety a witne?& 
who stood much nearer the cradle of our history than Pom- 
peii to that of Italy. 

" A fac simile of the marvelous monstrance has been taken 
of iife-size by our photographic artist, Mr. Jones, and will 
soon be exhibited in the halls of the Historical Society. The 
original I restore to the Bishop of Green Bay, F. X. Kraut- 
bauer, who keeps it in his vault. On Christmas night' 
(should read, Holy Saturday night), 1834 (should read, 1838), 
it was stolen from the church by some drunken soldiers 
from Fort Howard, but recovered the next day. It was after- 
wards carried to France and brought back only a few years- 
ago. Its weight is a trifle over twenty ounces, and the re- 
pousse work, rayonnant and flamboyant, attest that it must 
have been manufactured in France itself, — just as the rude- 
ness of the lettering bears witness of a Green Bay provincial 
goldsmith. An odd bit of proof has fallen in my way that 
the soleil is at least seven years older than 1686, the date of: 



189 

its consecration to the mission. It is this : In 1679 Louis 
XIV. issued a decree that every soleil should have a mark 
and countermark stamped on its oval base. The soleil now 
l)efore me bears no such stamp. Either, therefore, it is older 
than 1679, or through pious fraud it evaded the royal order. 
"The base was broken from the standard by the plow, but the 
fracture was well repaired. 

" There are four memorials older than the ostensorium of 
Perrot, proving the presence of white men in Wisconsin, — 
but they are all treasured far beyond its borders, and I fear 
will be for a long time. One is the original manuscript of 
Marquette, detailing his journey across Wisconsin and down 
the Mississippi, which was written at Green Bay in the win- 
ter of 1673-4. This writing is in the college of St. Mary at 
Montreal. The second memorial is Joliet's notes on the same 
journey, written on his return to France in 1674, and pre- 
served in the seminary of St. Sulpice at Paris. The other 
two are maps, both preserved in Parisian archives, one is of 
Lake Superior, drawn up in 1671; the other dating from 1679, 
"shows the Messipi from 49° to 42°, where the Misconsing 
comes in," according to an inscription upon it. 

" Fragments of French arms and other metallic, glass or 
•earthern articles doubtless exist in the northwest, that are 
older than the sacred silver relic of Perrot. But none known 
to me can be proved of so great antiquity, for none of them 
can bear dates that are tell-tales of their age. In Ottawa I 
«aw a bronze cross picked up at the foot of Starved Rock, and 
called Marquette's; but it bears no date. There is another 
of silver that was found at Green Bay and presented long ago 
to our State Historical Society'', but how old it is no one 
knows, or can know. 

" Some other dated native offering to the La Pointe or 
•Green Bay missions even before 1686 may possibly come to 
light, but aside from such an improbable windfall, it seems 
impossible that any antiquarian discovery this side of the 
prehistoric period, either in Wisconsin, or, indeed, out of it, 
in all the length and breadth of the Mississippi valley, can 
ever be made that shall rival, as a work of art, as a religious 
Telic, and above all as a historical memorial, the silver osten- 
sorium of Nicolas Perrot. With good reason, then, has Wis- 



190 

consin fostered her Historical Society till it is preeminent 
throughout the West. It had the most precious memorial 
to enshrine. J. D. Butler. 

Madison, July 22, 1878. 



Silver Monstrance of Father Allouez. 

" An Indian with the name of "Kiskirinanso, i. e. Chopped 
Buffalo," of the tribe of Maskoutin, a war-chief renowned 
among his people, says that in a small river to which he will 
conduct me, he had found a lot of white metal, a piece of 
which, he says, he gave to Father Allouez, and that Brother 
Charles, a goldsmith who resided at the Bay of the Puants 
(Green Bay), had worked it and made thereof a soleil (mon- 
strance, ostensory), in which the holy bread is put; this is the 
silver monstrance which the same Brother made there; that 
Father Allouez had given him in reward some goods and told 
him to keep this thing secret, as it (the while metal) was a 
manitou, i. e. a spirit that is not dead." (La Salle's letter, in 
Margry, vol. II, p. 178-9.) 

N. B. — The writer has translated the above from a slip of 
paper written in German, which Rev. N. Kersten, Green Bay^ 
kindly sent him. 



Curious Ancient Medal dug up at Fort Howard. 

" While the first colonists of Massachusetts, Manhattan and 

Virginia were struggling to make good their settlements on 
the coast, a bold Frenchman, Nicolet, was exploring Green 
Bay and the river entering into it. As early as 1669 the 
Jesuit Father, Allouez, began to announce Christianity to the 
Sacs and Foxes, Winnebagoes and Pottawatamies, around 
that bay. These missions continued for more that a cen- 
tury (?) and the plow and spade in our day frequently turn 
up some evidence of the labors of these early clergymen. 

" Some years since, a silver monstrance was tound near 
Green Bay, the inscription on it showing that it had been 
presented in 1684 (?) to the chapel there, by Nicolas Perrot, 
a man who bore a conspicuous part in the French explora- 
tion and development of the West. 



191 

" May, 1878, Patrick McCabe, a railroad laborer of Depere, 
a spot five miles from Green Bay, which in its name recalls 
the early missionaries, while digging out gravel for the rail- 
road, near the site where the American Fort Howard was 
built years ago, so long indeed that no trace of it remains, 
found a curious old medal of which we give a picture. 

" It is one evidently struck in Italy, as indicated by the 
word 'Roma,' and by the whole style of the workmanship. 
It was struck for use by the Jesuits, a fact which may not 
appear at once, but is proved by the fact that on the little 
. orb surrounded by cherubs is the arms of the Society of Jesus, 
the letters I. H. S., surmounted by a cross, with the three 
nails beneath it. 

" Without the nails, it is a common Roman Catholic sym- 
bol, but with that addition it is the special insignia of the 
Jesuits, a fact which architects a,nd glass-stainers ought to 
know, for it is rather odd to find a Protestant church some- 
times with what unintentionally declares it to be Jesuit 
property. 

" The workmanship of the medal is apparently not later 
than the seventeeth century, and has the look of having been 
moulded and cast from one struck by a die. This is not 
impossible, and it may be a specimen of early western metal 
work. The Jesuits had lay -brothers and donnes, at Sault Ste. 
Marie and Green Bay, who were smiths, and we know that 
one at the Sault used to go up Lake Superior to get native 
copper, with which he manufactured crucifixes, etc., for the 
use of the missionaries. He would naturally take molds of 
any such articles as he could find and reproduce them. The 
missions lasted at Green Bay till about 1729, and were visited 
subsequently at intervals. 

" The medal, lost probably more than a oentury ago by a 
missionary or one of his dusky converts, bears on one side 
the figure of the Blessed Virgin, standing on the moon, her 
head encircled by stars, with two cherubs, and the inscrip- 
tion : B. Virgo sine Pecc(ato) origiQaali) conc^epta) — " Blessed 
Virgin conceived without original sin" — and on the reverse 
an orb with the monogram as described, and two kneeling 
angels, with the legend : "/Sw l{odato) il S. S. Sacramento'''^ 
— " Blessed be the most Holy Sacrament." 



192 

" The medal has excited no little interest, and has been 
kindly sent to us by the Rt. Rev. Dr. Krautbauer, Roman 
Catholic Bishop of Green Bay." (John Gilmary Shea.) 



Copper Crucifix pound in Depere. 

A crucifix of copper, supposed to have been worked by a 
Jesuit lay-brother under Father Allouez after 1670, has been 
found in Depere together with two Indian skulls and a stone 
pipe, July 7th, 1879. 



Indian Customs of Lake Superior Country. 



Indian Superstitions; Demon- Worship; Religious Rites 
AND Ceremonies; from Perrot's "Memoire." ^ 

" It cannot be asserted that (pagan) Indians profess any 
doctrine; it is certain that they do not follow, so to say, any 
Teligion. They only observe some Jewish customs; for they 
have certain feasts at which they do not make use of a knife 
to cut the meats that have been boiled, but tear and devour 
them with their teeth. Their women also, when they have 
given birth to a child, have the custom of not entering for 
one month the cabin of their husbands; they are not even 
allowed during all that time to eat with the men nor to par- 
take of anything prepared by them. For this reason they 
do their cooking apart." 

"As their principal divinities, Indians acknowledge the 
Great Hare, the Sun, and Demons; I mean those who have 
not been converted. They invoke most frequently the Great 
Hare, as they . venerate and adore him as the creator of the 
«arth; also the Sun, as the author of light. But they also 
put the wicked spirit among the number of their gods, and, 
if they invoke them, it is because they fear them and in the 
invocation, which they make to them, they beg of them life. 
Those among the Indians whom the French call jugglers 
(medicine-men), speak to the devil, whom they consult in re- 
gard to war and the chase." 

" They have, besides, many other divinities to whom they 
pray and who, they claim, reside in the air, on the land, and 
beneath the earth. The gods of the air are thunder, light- 
ning, and in general all visible objects that they cannot com- 
prehend, for instance, the moon, eclipses and whirlwinds. 

1 Perrot's "Memoire," pp. 12, 13, 19, 30, 21. 



194 . 

The gods of the land consist in mahgnant and injurious 
creatures, especially serpents, tigers, and other animals or 
birds with animal-like claws. They also comprise under this 
head such animals as are extraordinary in their kind for 
beauty or deformity. The gods beneath the earth, are bears, 
who pass the entire winter Avithout eating, nourishing them- 
selves only from the substance which they extract from their 
navel (umbilicus) sucking. They have a similar regard for 
such animals as live in caves or holes under ground, whom 
they invoke when they have dreamt of them in their sleep." 

" For such like invocations, they get up a feast consisting of 
eatables or tobacco, to which the sachems are invited, and 
the host declares in their presence the dream he had. They 
do this whenever they offer up a sacrifice feast in honor of 
the Manitou, of whom they dreamed. At such feasts one of 
the headmen makes a speech, and naming the creature to 
which the feast is vowed, he addresses it in the following 
words : " Be merciful to him who offers thee these viands" — 
naming each kind of meat that is being offered. " Have pity 
on his family; grant him all he needs !" All present answer 
in chorus "0! 0'' several times until the prayer is finished. 
This "0!" means the same with them as ''Amen" with us. 
There are some who at such feasts oblige the guests to eat 
all there is; others again do not oblige you to do so; you. 
may eat what you like and take the rest home." 

" They honor the Great Tiger, as the god of the water,, 
whom the Algonquins and others speaking the same language 
call Michipissy^ They tell you that this Michipissy lives 
in a very hollow cave; that he has a large tail, which excites 
great winds whenever he moves it in going to drink; but 
when he wiggles it lively, it causes great tempests. On the 
voyages they are obliged to make, be they long or short, they 
invoke him in the following manner: "Thou who art the 
master of the winds favor our voyage and give us calm 
weather." This they say while smoking a pipe of tobacco, 
the smoke of which they blow up into the air. However, 
before undertaking somewhat long voyages, they are sure to 
tomahawk some dogs, whom they hang up on some tree or 
pole. Oftentimes also they vow to the sun, or lake, dressed 

I The same Manitou, called by Father AUouez (Relation of 1667) "Missibizi." 
Bishop Baraga spells the word Mishibiji (pron. mee-shee-be-zhee) and defines 
it, a lion. 



195 

skins of elk, hinds, or bucks, in order to obtain good weather;- 
If in winter they have to make a voyage on the ice, they in- 
voke for this purpose a certain spirit, called by the Algon- 
quins Mateomek, to whom they offer the smoke of tobacco,, 
praying him to be propitious and favorable to them on their 
journey. But this devotion is practiced with considerable 
carelessness, the little fervor they have then not nearly 
approaching that which they have on solemn feasts." 

"The Nepissings, otherwise also called Nepissiniens, the- 
Amikouas, and all tribes allied to them assert that the Ami- 
kouas, which means. Offspring of the Beaver, derive their origin 
from the carcass of the Great Beaver, whence came forth the 
first man of that tribe. They say that this beaver left Lake 
Huron and entered a certain river called French River. 
When water was beginning to fail, he constructed some dams- 
in said river, which are now rapids and portages. When he 
came to the river which rises in Lake Nepissing, he crossed 
over and followed several other rivulets and creeks, which he 
passed. He then came to the river, which issues from 
Outenulkame, where he went to work again and constructed 
dams in those places, where he did not find enough water. 
These are now the roads and rapids where a person is obliged 
to make portages. Having thus spent several years in his- 
voyages, he resolved to people the earth with children whom 
he left there, and who multiplied wherever he had passed in 
penetrating the creeks which he had discovered on his way. 
Finally he arrived below the calumets, where for the last time 
he made some dams. Turning back on his tracks, he saw 
that he had formed a beautiful lake (Lake Superior) and 
there he died. They believe that he is buried north of the 
lake, towards a place where the mountain resembles the 
shape of a beaver, and that his tomb is there, and for this 
reason they call it "The place where reposes the slain 
Beaver." When Indians pass by there they invoke him and 
blow smoke (from their pipes) into the air to honor his 
memory and to beg of him to be favorable to them on the 
voyage they have to undertake. If a stranger or some poor 
widow in want, residing near these Amikouas, or near some 
one of their family, happen to see a branch corroded by 
some beaver during night, the first one who finds it at the 
entrance of his tent, picks it up and carries it to the master 
of the family, who immediately causes a collection of victuals. 



196 

to be made for this poor person, because he is mindful of 
their ancestors, and the people of that village club together 
with a good will to make a present to him who has done 
them the honor of reminding them of their origin (namely, 
that they are descended from the Great Beaver). They do 
not practice these things among the French, as they ridiculed 
both them and their superstition." 



Indian Feast and War Dance, from Perrot's 
" Memoire."^ 

" There are other feasts in use among the Indians, in which 
a certain kind of adoration is practiced, in consecrating to the 
pretended divinity not only the meats of the feast, but also 
exhibiting at his feet the contents of a leather bag, which 
they call ''the war bag," or in their language, their "Pindi- 
kossan" (Baraga, Pindjigossan^), which contains the skins of 
owls, snakes, white birds, parrots, magpies and other very 
rare animals. They have also in those bags roots or powders, 
to be used as medicines (hence the name, medicine-bag). 
Before the feast they always fast, without either eating or 
drinking, until they have had a dream. During this fast 
they blacken their face, shoulders and breast with coal; they 
smoke, however. Some are said to have fasted twelve con- 
secutive days — which seems incredible — and others less. If 
they dream of a divinity residing on or under the ground, 
they continue to blacken themselves, as has been said, with 
■coals; but if they dream of the great hare or of the spirits of 
the air, they wash themselves and then besmear themselves 
with black earth; from that very evening they begin the 
solemnity of the feast. 

" The author of the feast invites two companions to assist 
him at the feast and they have to sing with him in order to 
propitiate the divinity of which they have dreamt, and for 
which the ceremony is intended. Formerly, when they had 

1 "Memoire," pp. 14-19. 

2 W. W. Warren (Minn. Hist. Coll., vol. V, p. 68) says: "The Ojibway pin- 
jig-o-saun, or as we term It, "medicine bag-," contains all he holds most sacred; 
it is preserved with great care, and seldom ever allowed a place in the com- 
mon wigwam, but is generally left hanging in the open air on a tree, where 
even an ignorant child dare not touch it. Its contents are never displayed 

'Without much ceremony." 



197 

no guns, they used to make as many proclamations (public 
invitations to the feast) as there were large kettles on the fire 
for boiling the different meats. Then the author of the feast 
begins to sing with his two assistants, who are daubed with 
vermilion or a tincture of red. This song is solely sang in 
honor of the divinity of which he dreamed, for each creature,, 
animate and inanimate, has its own peculiar song (by which 
it is to be honored, praised, and invoked). They continue 
singing during that night all those songs that are sang in 
honor of other imaginary deities, until all the guests are 
assembled. All the guests being assembled the feast-giver 
begins to intone alone the song which belongs to the god of 
whom he dreamed. 

"The feast consists of dog meat, as the flesh of a dog is 
considered as the best and most highly prized of all meats. 
They add several other kinds of meat, for instance, that of 
the bear, elk, or of some other large animal; if they have none 
they supply the deficiency with Indian corn seasoned with 
fat, which they pour upon the plate of each guest. You will 
take notice that, to render this feast solemn, there must be 
a dog, whose head is presented to the principal war chief;, 
the other parts of the animal are distributed among the war- 
riors. When the meat is boiled they take the kettles oflf* the 
fire and a herald makes public proclamation in the village to 
let people know that the feast is ready and that now every- 
one may come. The men are allowed to come with their arms 
and the old men each with his plate. They are not ceremo- 
nious as to place, sitting promiscuously, without order^ 
wherever they like; strangers are as welcome as the inhabi- 
tants of the place, they are even served the first and are given 
the best things of the feast. 

" When everyone is seated at his place the author of this 
ceremony, who always remains standing, assisted by his two 
companions, his wife and children having seated themselves 
on both sides of him ornamented with their best trinkets, 
and his two companions armed like himself with a javelin or 
a quiver of arrows, raises at first his voice so as to make him- 
self understood by all present, saying that he offers these 
viands in sacrifice to such a manitou, naming him, and that 
it is to him he offers them. These are the words he uses : 
" I adore and invoke thee that thou mayest be favorable to 
me in the enterprise I have on hand, and that thou mayest 



198 

iiave pity on me and my whole family. I invoke all the had 
and good spirits, all those who are in the air, on the earth, and 
underneath, that they may preserve me and my party, and 
that we may be able to return, after a happy voyage, to our 
country." Then all present answer in chorus, "0 ! !" These 
kinds of feasts are generally only got up on an occasion of 
war or some other enterprise against their personal enemies. 
If a Frenchman happens to be present, they do not say, " I 
invoke the bad spirits^'; they pretend to invoke only the good 
manitous. The words they use in these invocations are so 
peculiar, that only they themselves can understand them. 
They usually have recourse to those spirits, whom they 
imagine to be the most ]30werful and who can be more pro- 
pitious to them than others. They even imagine that they 
cannot escape the accidents that may happen to them on the 
part of their enemies, or other misfortunes, if they have 
omitted these invocations. 

" The master of the feast, having finished his invocations 
in the posture above described, with his bow and quiver of 
arrows, his javelin or dagger, assumes a most furious look, 
entones his war song, and at each syllable that he pronounces 
makes most horrible contortions of head and body, the most 
terrible that can be seen. All this, however, is done accord- 
ing to a certain rising and falling inflection of the voice; for 
both the voice and the body accord at the same instant with 
the demonstrations of his enmity, which show that his 
courage grows stronger more and more, walking always ac- 
cording to the tunes and inflections of his song from one end 
of the place to the other, where the feasting is going on. 
Thus he goes back and forward several times continuing his 
gesticulations, and when he passes before the guests, who are 
seated on the ground on both sides facing each other, they 
answer his war-song without discord, shouting in one voice, 
" Ouiy ! Ouiy !" from thfi bottom of their throat. But the 
most agreeable thing in their inflections occurs when in cer- 
tain parts of his song he pronounces two or three syllables a 
great deal faster than the rest; when this occurs, all present 
do the same, answering " Ouiy !" quicker, observing the tempo 
which the cadence requires. This is observed so regularly, 
that out of five hundred assembled not one is found to fail 
therein. 



199 

" All the women, children, and in general all in the village 
-who were not invited to the feast, go there of themselves, in 
order to be spectators of the solemnity. They lose eating 
: and drinking, and often abandon their wigwams, which they 
thus leave exposed to be plundered by other Indians who 
-are naturally prone to stealing. 

" After the master of the feast has got through walking and 
singing, he assumes the same posture he had heretofore. 
One of his companions now takes his place and enacts the 
same drama, which he saw performed a moment ago, and 
after he gets through, he joins the master of the feast. The 
other assistant also chants in his turn, and after him all the 
guests, one after another, and they endeavor to outdo one 
another in assuming most furious appearances. While sing- 
ing, some fill their plates with hot ashes and burning coals, 
which they throw upon the spectators who vociferate in 
chorus with a very strong, but slow voice, " Ouiy !" Other 
seize fire-brands and throw them up into the air ; others, 
again, act as if they were going to tomahawk the spectators. 
These last are obliged to repair the afiront, offered to him 
whom the}^ feigned to strike, by making him a present of 
vermilion, knife, or some other object of like value. Only 
such warriors as have slain or captured an enemy are 
allowed to act in this manner. These feints signify that it is 
thus that he slew the enemy. But were he not to give some- 
thing to him whom he might chance to address in the 
company, the latter would tell him before all present that 
he was a liar and never capable of slaying anybody, which 
then would cover him with shame. 

" During the singing of these songs they show themselves 
haughty, intrepid, and ready to overcome all dangers such 
as they hav.e heretofore met with in those places where they 
have been in war. When they stop singing at certain inter- 
vals, all present cry out in chorus: " Ouiy !" After that they 
continue to chant, one after another, each in his turn, some- 
times three or four together. When doing so, they station 
themselves one at each end and one in the middle of the 
place where the feast is going on ; and, walking from one 
end of the cabin to the other, they meet without losing a 
single note of their song, nor changing the contortions of 
their face and body, although they sing difierent songs with 
-difierent gestures. The guests follow the singing and answer 



200 

in their turn whenever the dancers pass before them. It 
must be remarked that each man has his own peculiar song^ 
neither can anyone chant his comrade's song without insult- 
ing him, which affront would draw a blow of the tomahawk 
on the head of him who had thus sung the war-song of 
another, that being the greatest insult that a person could 
offer him in an assembly where he is present. This war- 
song of his cannot be sang even after his death on days of 
solemnity, unless by those of his family who bear his name. 
On ordinary days, when no feast is being celebrated, it is 
lawful to sing it in his presence, provided the singer is not 
sitting at the time and that he knows that the owner of the 
song pretends to ignore it to be his. 

" When all present have chanted, those who have been 
chosen to wait upon the guests first take the plates of the 
strangers which they fill and place before them. They then 
wait upon their chiefs. When waiting upon the chiefs and 
the strangers, they give them the best they have at the feast. 
They deal out portions to the other guests indiscriminately, 
without making any distinction, aJl of whom are sitting on the 
ground, which serves them for a table, and there they hold 
the plate, brought along, between their legs. Above all,, 
everyone must come provided with his own plate; otherwise 
he would not get his share. Hence they never fail in this, 
the Indian being naturally too gluttonous to forget on an 
occasion like this to fill well his belly. 

"When they have determined to make a general march 
into their enemies' country, or to form small war-parties, the 
leader makes a feast such as has just been described. Those 
who feel inclined to go with him, meet there to be enrolled 
with him, for he would not be accompanied by a^ single per- 
son if he had not first feasted them. The march is conducted 
according to his orders. As long as it lasts, the leader has 
his face, shoulders and breast blackened with earth or coal. 
He is also very careful to chant every morning when start- 
ing his death-song without ever failing in it until he is out of 
danger, or has returned to his village, where he makes again 
a feast in case no evil happened him, in order to thank the 
spirit who has been favorable to him on his journey. To 
this feast are invited the chiefs of the village and those who 
accompanied him in his enterprise." 



201 

Indian Mareiages.^ 

" There are some Indian tribes where people marry to live- 
together until death, and there are others where the married 
separate whenever they like.^ The Iroquois, the Loups 
(Mohikans, Mohegans), and some other tribes follow the last- 
named custom; but the Ottawas (Outaouas) marry to live 
with their wives all their life, unless a very strong reason 
causes the husband to repudiate his wife. For without such 
a reason the husband would be exposed to the danger of 
being plundered by his wife and of suffering thousand in- 
dignities at her hands, for the woman, whom he had aban- 
doned to marry another, would put herself at the head of 
her relatives and take from him what he had with him and 
what could be found in his lodge ; she might pull his hair 
and scratch his face, and, in one word, there is no indignity 
or affront which she could not heap upon him and which she 
would be justified in inflicting on him, and that without his 
being able to prevent her, unless he would be willing to be- 
come the scorn of the village. In case such a husband does 
not marry somebody else, the woman he has deserted may 
plunder him when returning from the chase or traffic, leav- 
ing him but his arms, and even these she at last takes from 
him, should he still refuse to return to her. But if he can. 
prove that she was unfaithful to him before, or even after 
leaving her, he can marry someone else without her being 
able to complain of it. The wife on her part cannot leave 
her husband, because he is her master, as he has bought her 
and paid for her. Even her folks cannot take her away from 
him, and if she leave him, custom authorizes him to kill 
her without hinderance. This has many a time caused war 
between families, who were determined to uphold the right 
of the husband (in slaying his wife) when she would not 
consent to return to him. 



1 "Memoire," pp. 32, 33. 

3 ■ The writer is not aware of any particular marriage ceremony among- 
our paRaa Chippewas. They simply come and live together for life, or as 
long as they can agree. They tiave very loose notions in regard to matri- 
mony, and for very slip:ht reasons part and marry somebody else. Polygamy 
is very rare, but divorces and adulterous marriages are freguent. They 
marry without much consideration and readily abandon one another. Even 
among the Christians the standard of morality is very low in many places, 
especially where they come in frequent contact with the irreligious, impure 
and materialistic civilization of this country. Invalid marriages are, nine 
cases out of ten, the cause of apostasy on the part of Christian Indians. 



202 

" The Iroquois, the Loups, and some other tribes, do not 
act like the Ottawas towards their wives; still there are some 
who never part, and who during life love each other solely. 
But the far greater number, especially the young, only marry 
to leave one another whenever they think proper. They will 
each take a woman during a voyage of hunting or of traffick- 
ing and divide with her one-half of the profit they may have 
made. A man can even make a bargain with a woman as to 
what he will give her for the time he intends to keep her, 
with the understanding that she is to be faithful to him; after 
having made the yoyage she can leave him again. Still there 
are some to be found who mutually love each other and who 
always remain united, especially such as have had children 
together, which children, according to Indian custom, belong 
to the mother, as they always live with her, that is males, 
until they are able to get married, and girls until their 
mother's death. Should the father of a family abandon his 
wife, the children he had by her, when grown up, would treat 
him with contempt and heap reproaches on him for having 
abandoned them in their infancy, having left to their mother 
the care and trouble of raising them." 



On the Manner in which the Indians op the Lake Supe- 
BiOR Country conducted their Funeral Ceremonies.^ 

" When an Ottawa or other Indian is about to die, they 
bedeck him with the most beautiful trinkets his folks have, 
I mean his parents and relatives. They arrange his hair and 
paint it with red paint mixed with grease. They also daub 
his body and face with vermilion, and put a shirt on him of 
the nicest kind, if there be any on hand. He is clothed with 
a jacket and blanket of the richest kind — in one word, he is 
dressed as gaudily as if he were to give a great feast. They 
carefully adorn the place where he lies with strings of beads, 
circlets (of fancy stuffs) and other gewgaws. His arms are at 
his side, and at his feet, generally, all that he used in war 
during life. All his relatives and especially the medicine-men 
are about him. 

1 "Memoire," pp. 33—36. 



203 

"^^ When the sick man appears to be in his agony and on the 
point of expiring, his female relatives, and others who have 
heen hired for the purpose, begin to cry, singing mournful 
■songs in which mention is made of the degree of relationship 
between them and the dying man. But whenever he seems 
to revive and regain his senses they cease to cry, commencing, 
however, their wails and lamentations over again as often as 
ihe sick man falls into convulsions or gets weak spells. 

" When he is dead or a moment before expiring, they place 
him in a sitting position as if he were still alive, his back 
being supported: I will say here, en passant, that I have seen 
•some whose death-agony lasted for more than twenty-four 
hours, and who made terrible grimaces and contortions, their 
eyes rolling in the most horrible manner. You would have 
believed that the soul of the dying man saw and noticed some 
■enemy, although he was senseless and almost dead. The dead 
remain in a sitting position till the next day and are kept in 
this posture by their relatives and friends who come to see 
them. They are also assisted from time to time by an old 
woman who places herself before the female relatives of the 
■deceased there present; shedding hot tears she begins a lugu- 
brious song, all the other women joining in, and whenever 
she stops singing they do the same. They then offer her a 
piece of meat or a plate of grain, or something else. 

" As to the men, they do not weep, that being considered 
unworthy of them. Only the father of the deceased evinces 
by his mournful song that there is nothing in the world that 
-can console him for the loss of his son. A brother does tbe 
same for an elder brother, if he has received from him during 
-life sensible tokens of tenderness and friendship. He disrobes, 
daubs his face with coal and red streaks. He has his bow and 
a,rrow in hand as if he meant to attack the first man he 
would meet. Chanting a song in a most furious manner, he 
runs like a madman through the place, streets, and wigwams 
•of the village without shedding a single tear, showing to all 
who meet him how great is the sorrow he feels at the loss of 
his brother. This moves the hearts of his neighbors to com- 
passion and engages them to make up among themselves a 
present for the deceased, declaring in the harangue that 
accompanies it that this present is given to dry the tears of 
the dead man's relatives, and that the mat which they give 
iim is intended for him to repose on (in the land of spirits) ; 



204 

if the gift consists of bark (birch-bark), they say it is intended 
to preserve his body from the injurious effects of the weather 
(rain, snow). 

"When they are about to bury the body, they go for the 
persons chosen for this function. They erect a scaffold from 
seven to eight feet high, which is used instead of a grave, and 
on it the body is placed. If he is to be buried in the ground, 
they dig for him a grave of only four or five feet. During 
all this time the family despoil themselves bringing him 
grain (corn, wild rice), furs or other merchandise to be placed 
on the scaffold or near his grave. This done, they carry there 
the body in the same posture he had when dying, and with 
the same ornaments (he wore at that time). He has his arms 
near him and all that had been placed at his feet before dying. 

"After the funeral ceremonies are over, and the body buried 
they richly pay those who have buried him, giving them a 
kettle or some strings of beads for their trouble. 

"All the people of the village are obliged to assist at the 
funeral. The whole being concluded, a certain man presents 
himself amongst them holding in his hand a small green stick 
of the thickness of a thumb and about four fingers in length. 
This he throws into the midst of the crowd. The great point 
now is to catch the green stick; if it falls on the ground, every 
one scrambles for it and tries to pick it up, pushing and pull- 
ing one another with so great violence that in less than half 
an hour it has passed through the kands of all those present. 
If finally some one of the crowd has managed to possess him- 
self of it and shows it without it being taken from him, he 
sells it at a fixed price to the first person who wants to buy 
it. The price will often be a kettle, gun or blanket. The 
guests are then told to meet again for a similar ceremony, the 
day being appointed; this is done several times, as I have said. 

"After this game, a proclamation is made that there will be 
another prize for the best runner among the young men. The 
race course is indicated from the place whence they are to 
start until the spot where it is said they aire to arrive. All 
the young men dress and form a long line in an open field. 
At the first shout of the man appointed .for that office, they 
start to run for some distance from the village and the first, 
one who arrives at the other end bears off the prize. 

" Some days afterwards the jmrents of the deceased get up 
a feast consisting of meat, corn and wild rice, to which all 



205 

those of the village are invited who are not their relatives 
and who descend from families different from theirs (i. e. not 
having the same totemic mark). Those also are invited, and 
that especially, who have made presents to the deceased. 
They invite to it strangers from other villages, if any such 
happen to be present, and they inform their guests that it is 
the deceased who gives them this feast. Should the feast 
consist of meat, they will take a piece and this has to be 
carried to the grave and placed on it; they do the same with 
other kinds of food. Women, girls and children are allowed 
to eat these things (placed on the grave) but not grown up 
men, for they are to look upon this as unworthy of them. 
At this feast every one is at liberty to eat what he likes and 
to take the rest home. They make considerable presents in 
merchandise to all those strangers who previously have done 
the same to the deceased, but those of their own tribe receive 
nothing. They are then thanked for having remembered the 
deceased and congratulated on their charitableness." 



The Manner in which Indians Conduct the Grand Feast 
OF THE Dead.^ 

^' When Indians intend to have a feast in honor of their 
dead they carefully make the necessary arrangements before- 
hand. Returning home from their traffic with the Europeans 
they bring along with them such articles as are suitable for 
this purpose and at home provide themselves with meat, 
grain, furs and other things. At their return from the chase 
the whole village meets to solemnize this feast. When once 
they had decided to celebrate the feast of the dead, they send 
deputies of their peoj)le to all the neighboring villages near 
by (and far away) some of them more than a hundred leagues 
distant, to invite them to assist at the coming feast, telling 
them the time fixed for said celebration. A great many 
people of the so invited villages start then, each canoe hold- 
ing several persons; they make a small collection of goods 
among themselves in order to make thereof a present in 
common to the village which has invited them . Those who 
have invited them prepare for their coming a large cabin, 

1 "Memoire," p. 3T-40. 



206 

very strong and well covered, in order to receive and lodge- 
all those whom they are expecting." 

"As soon as all have arrived, the different tribes stand^ 
separated one from the other, in the center of the large cabin- 
Being thus assembled, they make their presents and give 
away what they have, saying, that they have just been 
invited to render homage to the remains of the dead of the 
village and to their memory. Immediately they begin to 
dance to the sound of a drum and of a gourd, in which are 
small holes which constantly give out the same tune. They 
dance from one end of the cabin to the other, one behind 
the other in single file, moving around the three fir or other 
trees planted there. While the dancing is going on, some 
are busy in the kitchen cooking. Dogs are killed and boiled 
with other meats, all of which have been diligently prepared. 
When all is ready, the guests are made to rest a while, and 
the dance being now stopped, the repast is served up. 

"I have forgotten to remark that as soon as the dance 
stops, the presents which the guests have made and all their 
effects are removed. Their hosts give them other presents 
of greater value in exchange. In case they have lately re- 
turned from trafficking with Europeans, the presents they give 
will consist of shirts, head-gear, stockings, new blankets, or 
some paints and vermilion, though the guests have brought 
but old articles, perhaps green hides, furs of beaver, of wild 
cats, bears, or some other animal. 

" When those invited frora other villages arrive, the same 
is done at each new arrival (of guests) and the same re- 
ception is given to the people of each village. When all are 
assembled they get them to dance three days in succession^ 
during which one of those who called them to the feast in- 
vites twenty persons, more or less, to a feast at his place, and 
then a certain number are chosen from each tribe and de- 
tached from the rest of the tribe, who keep on dancing. But 
instead of serving them with victuals at this feast, they give 
them presents, such as kettles, hatchets, and other articles; 
nothing, however, to eat. These presents then become the 
common property of the tribe; should they consist in articles 
of food, they may eat them at once, which they do very 
readil}^, for they are never wanting in appetite. Another will 
do the same in regard to the other dancers; they will be in- 
vited to come to his lodge (to receive presents). Thus they 



207 

treat their guests till all of the village have given in their 
turn such kind of donation feasts. During the three days 
that the dance lasts they squander all they have in the line 
of merchandise or other goods and reduce themselves to ex- 
treme poverty, and that to such an extent that they do not 
keep for themselves even a hatchet or knife. Oftentimes all 
the}'- keep is but an old kettle for their use. Their intention 
in making these donations is to render the souls of the de- 
parted more happy and honored in the land of the dead, for 
they believe that they are under a strict obligation to comply 
with all that is observed at funeral obsequies, and that only 
such kinds of donations can give repose to the departed. It 
is customary with them to give all they have without reserve 
at funeral ceremonies and other superstitious performances. 
Some of those who have imbibed the milk of religion (be- 
come Christians) have not entirely abandoned these kind of 
customs, and with the body they bury all that belonged to 
the deceased during life. Such feasts of the dead were for- 
merly celebrated every year, each tribe in its turn giving 
such a feast, they mutually invited then one another to the 
feast. Since some years, however, these things are no longer 
practiced among some of them, as the French, who have much 
intercourse with them, made them understand that this use- 
less squandering of their goods ruined their families and 
reduced them to such straits as not to have even the neces- 
saries of life. 



Pagan notions in regard to the Immortality of the 
Soul and of the place where the Dead are said 
to reside forever.^ 

" All pagan Indians believe in the immortality of the soul. 
They maintain that the soul, after leaving the body, goes to 
a beautiful prairie country where there is neither heat nor 
cold and where the atmosphere is agreeably temperate. They 
say that country is full of animals and birds of all kinds and 
varieties. Hunters there never find themselves exposed to 
hunger, as they can slaj'' and eat whatever animal they like. 
They assure us that this beautiful country is very far away 

1 "iMemoire," pp. 40-43. 



208 

on the other side of the earth. Hence they place provisions 
and arms on the graves of the dead, for they believe that the 
departed will find in the other world for their use all that 
has been given them in this, especially on the voyage they 
have to make. 

" They believe, moreover, that as soon as the soul has left 
the body it enters this charming country, and, having 
traveled several days, it meets on its way^ a rapid river, over 
which there is but a small stick to cross over. When walk- 
ing over this thin stick it bends so much that the soul is in 
danger of falling into the water and being carried away by 
the current. They maintain that, should this accident un- 
happily occur, it would get drowned, and that all these 
dangers are at an end when once she has entered the land of 
the dead. They also believe that the souls of young people 
of both sexes have nothing to fear as they are vigorous 
and strong. Hut it is not the same with those of the old and 
of children, when not assisted at this dangerous passage by 
other souls; this is oftentimes the reason why they perish. 

" They also say that this same river is full of fish beyond 
imagination. Sturgeon and other fish abound there, which 
they kill with their hatchets and clubs in order to roast them 
on their voyage, for after leaving the river they no longer 
meet with game. After having traveled for quite a long time 
they come to a very steep mountain, which obstructs their 
passage and obliges them to seek another elsewhere. How- 
ever they find none, and, after having suffered a great deal, 
they come at last to that terrible passage where two pestles 
of prodigious size, rising and falling by turns, form a great 
difficulty which it is hard to surmount, for should the soul 
be unhappily caught beneath, that is, when one of the pestles 
is just falling, it would surely be killed; but the disembodied 
spirit watches most carefully for the lucky moment (when 
one of the pestles goes up) to slip through this so dangerous 
place. Yet many get caught and peiish, especially the souls 
of old people and children, as they are less strong and 
vigorous and rather slow when trying to get through. 

2 The road to the "Happy hunting grounds of the dead" is called Ke-wa- 
kun-ah, "Homeward road"; also Che-ba-kun-ah, "Ghost road." The soul 
travels till she comes to a deep, rapid stream, over which lies the much 
dreaded Ko-go-gaup-o gun, or rolling and sinking bridge; once safely over 
this, as the traveler looks back it assumes the shape of a huge serpent swim- 
ming, twisting and untwisting its folds across the stream. 



209 

" Once through this dangerous passage the}) enter a charm- 
ing country where excellent fruits are found in abundance. 
The ground is covered with all kinds of flowers, the odor of 
which is so wonderful that it enchants the heart and charms 
the imagination. There is now but a short distance to make 
;S0 as to arrive at the place where the noise of the drum and 
gourd, keeping time to the songs and shouts of the dead at 
their entertainment (dance), makes itself agreeably heard. 
This stimulates them to run most eagerly directly towards 
the place whence the sound of the happy multitude proceeds. 
The nearer they come the louder the noise becomes, and the 
delight and joy, to which the dancers give expression by con- 
tinual shouts, ravish the new comers more and more. When 
they are near the place where the dancing is going on^ a cer- 
tain number of the dead leave their follow-dancers and go to 
welcome them and manifest the great pleasure their arrival 
■causes to the whole company. They are then conducted to 
the place where the dancing is going on, where they are kindly 
received by all those present. They find there meats of all 
tastes and without number. Nothing more exquisite or 
better prepared can be imagined. They can eat whatever 
they like and pleases their appetite. When they get through 
they mingle with the rest to dance and enjoy themselves for- 
ever, without being any longer subject to grief, inquietude, 
infirmities, or any of the vicissitudes of mortal life. 

"This is the belief of the Indians in regard to the immor- 
tality of the soul. It is a dream, a chimera of the most 
ridiculous things that can be invented,. but they cling to this 
belief with so great obstinacy, that, when a person wants to 
•convince them of its ridiculous absurdity, they tell the Euro- 
pean who speaks to them about these things, that we have a 
particular country for our dead (and they another for theirs). 
Having been created by spirits who lived in harmony with 
•one another and who were mutual friends, they (i- e. the 
spirits or manitous that created the pale-faces) had chosen in 
the other world a different country from theirs (that is, of 
the departed Indians, each race having a heaven for itself). 
They say that it is an indubitable truth, and one they have 
learned from their ancestors, that they once went to war into 
a country so far away that they came at last to the extreme 
€nd of the earth. They then passed the place where the 
Jarge pestles keep going up and down, as I have described 



210 

above, at the entrance of the beautiful land of the dead.. 
Having passed through, they heard at a little distance the- 
beating of the drum and the sound of the gourds and, 
curiosity having impelled them to go on a little further to 
see' what was going on, they were discovered by the dead,, 
who then came towards them. They tried to flee, but were 
soon overtaken and conducted to the cabins of these inhabi- 
tants of the other world, where they were well received. The 
dead then escorted them as far as the passage of the pestles, 
which they stopped so as to enable them to pass through 
without danger (into the land of the living). Taking leave 
of them they told their living countrymen never to come 
back there again till after death, for fear some misfortune 
might happen to them." 



Ottawas. 

De la Motte Cadillac, in 1695 commander at Mackinaw,, 
wrote that the Ottawas were divided into four bands: 1, the 
Kiskakons, or Queues Coupees ; 2, the Sable, because their 
old residence was on a sandy point ; 3, the Sinago, or 
Outaoua-Sinageaux ; and 4, the Nassawaketon, or People of 
the Fork, because they had resided on a river which had 
three forks or branches, perhaps the Chippewa River of Wis- 
consin. Nassawaketon was the Algonquin word for a river 
which forked (Minn. Hist. Coll., vol. V, p. 405). LacCourte 
Oreille, which empties by Courte Oreille river into the Chip- 
pewa, is called to this day by the Indians " Ottawa-Sagaigan," 
Ottawa Lake, as there is a tradition that Ottawas used to re- 
side on the shores of said lake. The Relation of 1667 says 
that their ancient dwelling place was near Lake Huron.. 
They used to go by way of Ottawa River to Montreal and 
Quebec, and thus the river they traveled on was called after- 
them. At Father Menard's time, 1660, a large body of 
Ottawas resided at Keweenaw Bay. Another portion had 
fled with a band of Tionnontate Hurons to the Mississippi,. 
and had settled on an island near the entrance of Lake Pepin. 
Driven away by the Sioux, whom they had foolishly at- 
tacked conjointly with the Hurons, they ascended Black 
River, Wis., at the headwaters of which the Hurons built a 



211 

fort, while the Ottawas pushed on to Lake Superior., 
and settled on the shores of Chequamegon Bay, between 
the mouth of Fish Creek and Ashland. In 1670-71 they 
went to live on Manitouline Island, their ancient abode, 
where the Fathers established among them the flourishing- 
mission of St. Simon. At present they reside in Michigan,, 
at Grand and Little Traverse, Harbor Springs, and elsewhere- 
Their language strongly resembles the Chippewa. In 1668-69 
Father Allouez succeeded in converting the Kiskakon band 
of Ottawas at Chequamegon Bay, but the Sinagoes and 
Keinouche's (from kinoje or kinosha, a pike) remained deaf 
to the voice of the zealous Father, though many subse- 
quently embraced Christianity at Green Bay and Mackinaw. 
Father Baraga labored among them at Arbre Croche -(Harbor 
Springs) and Grand River, baptizing seven hundred or more. 
At present their spiritual wants are attended to by the 
Franciscan Fathers residing at Harbor Springs. 



PoTT A W AT AMIES . 

The Pottawatami lived on the peninsula formed by Green 
Bay on the west and Lake Michigan on the east. They and 
the Winnebagoes had a village about 24 miles above the spot 
where the city of Green Say now stands, near Little Sturgeon 
Bay. In 1641 they were at Sault Ste. Marie, fleeing before 
the face of the Sioux. In 1665 we meet with them at Che- 
quamegon Bay, where Father Allouez found them to the 
number of three hundred men, bearing arms. In 1668 they 
resided on the Pottawatami Islands, in Green Bay. _ They 
were very docile and friendly disposed to Christianity, be- 
sides being more humane and civilized than other Indian 
tribes. Wm. W. Warren says their name signifies, " Those 
who make or keep the fire," from bcdawe or potawe,to make 
a fire, from the fact of their taking with them or perpetuating 
the national fire, which, according to tradition, was sacredly 
kept alive in their more primitive days. 

A Pottawatami band settled about the year 1721 on the- 
St. Joseph's River, and another near Detroit. In 1830 V. Rev- 
Frederic Rese, then Vicar-General of Cincinnati, afterwards 
first bishop of Detroit, visited the Pottawatamies on St. 



212 

Joseph's river. He was received with the greatest joy by the 
poor Indians, and baptized Pokegan, a Pottawatami chief, 
and twelve others. However, the Father was soon obliged 
to leave to attend other missions. Pokegan was inconsolable. 
He repaired to Detroit on the 1st of July, 1830. '' Father ! 
Father !" be exclaimed, " I come to beg you to give us a 
Black-gown to teach us the word of God. We are ready to 
give up whiskey and all our barbarous customs. Thou dost 
not send us a Black-gown, and thou hast often promised us 
one. What! must we live and die in our ignorance? If 
thou hast no pity on us men, take pity on our poor children, 
who will live as we have lived in ignorance and vice. We 
are left deaf and blind, steeped in ignorance, although we 
earnestly desire to be instructed in the faith. Father, draw 
lis from the fire — the fire of the wicked manitou. An 
American minister wished to draw us to his religion, but 
neither I nor any of the village would send our children to 
Ms school, nor go to his meetings. We have preserved the 
way of prayer taught our ancestors by the Black-gown who 
used to be at St. Joseph. Every night and morning my 
w^ife and children pray together before a crucifix which thou 
bast given us, and on Sundays we pray oftener. Two days 
before Sunday we fast till evening, men, women and chil- 
dren, according to the tradition of our fathers and mothers, 
as we have never seen a Black-gown at St. Joseph."^ 

Father Stephen Badin was sent them in August, 1830, and 
by January he had three hundred Christians, all of whom con- 
fessed regularly, besides a hundred children and adults bap- 
tized. In a few years there were from 1000 to 1200 fervent 
Christians. In September, 1838, the United States troops sur- 
rounded the Pottawatamies, and as prisoners of war, com- 
pelled them to remove. They were deported to the banks of 
the Osage River, where Father Petit, their pastor, confided 
them to the care of Father J. Hoecken, S. J. On the sale of 
their lands, the United States government allotted the Potta- 
watamies 5,000,000 acres on the Missouri, near Council Bluffs. 

1 Shea, "Catholic Missions," p. 394. 



213 

Sacs. 

The country of the Sacs was between Lake Huron and 
Erie. They resided for a long time in Michigan, near Sagi- 
naw Bay, on the Saginaw and Tittibewasse Rivers. After 
many bloody wars with their neighbors, in which they were 
well nigh annihilated, they were driven from that State and 
settled in Wisconsin, where the}'- became allies of the Outa- 
gamies or Foxes. Father Allouez found some Sacs at Che- 
quamegon Bay, and afterwards, in 1669, at Green Bay and 
up the Fox River, where they had a village, some twelve 
miles up that river. They were a very warlike and barbarous 
race, without fixed dwelling-places, roaming about through 
the woods. On the 4th of June, 1763, the Sacs and Chippe- 
was, by stratagem, took Fort Mackinaw and killed almost 
all the British soldiers of the garrison. Their last great 
tribal e£fort was made conjointly with the Foxes, in the Black 
Hawk war of 1832, Black Hawk was defeated on the Wis- 
consin by General Dodge, and on the 2d of August, 1832, 
Gen. Atkinson overtook the broken fragments of his army, 
and attacked them on the bottoms of the Mississippi, a few 
miles below the mouth of Bad Ax River, about forty-five 
miles above Prairie du Chien, and totally defeated and scat- 
tered them. 



OUTAGAMIBS OR FoXES. 

The Foxes, called by the French, "Renards," and the Chip- 
pewas, " Oudagamig," call themselves "Moskwakig," from 
mosk (Chipp. misk) red and aki, land, i. e. "People of the red 
land." Father Allouez found some of them on the shores of 
Chequamegon Bay, where they came to fish and trade. They 
resided along the Fox and Wolf rivers and had a large village 
near New London and another at Mukwa or a little below 
there (the latter perhaps a corruption of Muskwaki, their 
Indian name), on the Wolf River, Wisconsin, where Father 
Allouez visited them in April, 1670, and started the mission of 
St. Mark. He converted several of the tribe, though subse- 
quently the mission was abandoned on account of the hostile 
attitude of the Foxes towards the French. They are the only 
Algonquin tribe on whom the French made war. 



'214 

The Foxes and Chippewas were enemies from time im- 
memorial and many a bloody battle was fought between 
them. An Indian tradition relates that a large band of Foxes 
stealthily landed about two centuries ago or more on the 
southeastern extremity of Madeline (La Pointe) Island and 
captured four Chippewa women. Elated with their success 
they hastily embarked in their small canoes, and when they 
thought themselves safe from pursuit they raised a defiant 
shout, which was heard by the Chippewas, who jumped into 
their canoes. A thick fog covering the lake, neither party 
could see the other; but the Chippewas were guided by the 
noise of the songs and shouts of their enemies. They over- 
took the Foxes near Montreal River and a naval battle ensued 
in which the Chippewas totally defeated and annihilated the 
Foxes. Their last great battle with the Foxes was at St. 
Croix Falls, where under their great war-chief, Wau-boo-jeeg, 
they defeated the combined forces of the Foxes and Sioux, 
reducing the former to fifteen lodges, who were then incor- 
porated with the Sacs. This battle occurred about 1780. 
Wau-boo-jeeg, the Chippewa leader in that war, lived on the 
projection of land near Pike's Bay, above Bayfield, and died 
in 1793. 

When the French became acquainted with the Chippewas, 
whose home was the Sault (whence they were called by the 
French Saulteur or Sauteurs, now Sauteux), they formed 
alliance and friendship with them and supplied them with 
fire-arms, which enabled them eventually to drive the Foxes 
out of northern Wisconsin and the Sioux beyond the head- 
waters of the Mississippi. 



The Illinois. 

Of all the Algonquin tribes of the north west the Illinois 
were the most docile and susceptible of Christianity. Both 
Fathers, Allouez and Marquette, speak most highly of them. 
Father Allouez found a considerable number of them on the 
Upper Fox River, some nine miles from where Portage City 
now stands. He also met with a small band of them on 
Chequamegon Bay, where they told him such wonderful 
things about their beautiful prairie country, that he burned 



215 

"with desire to visit them, the more so as they evinced such un- 
-tjommon inclination to embrace the faith. He visited them 
"in 1670 at the Maskouten village near Portage City and was 
received by them with great joy. They immediately pre- 
pared a feast. A venerable old man then addressed him in 
the following words: "How good it is, Black-gown, that thou 
hast come to visit us. Have pity on us; thou art a manitou 
►(a god), we offer thee to smoke. The Nadouessious (pron. 
Nah-doo-wes-see-oo, Sioux) and the Iroquois are eating us; 
have compassion on us. We are often sick, our children die, 
we suffer hunger. Hear me, Manitou, I offer thee to smoke; 
-may the earth yield us corn and the rivers fish ; may sickness 
not kill us and famine not be so hard on us." At each in- 
vocation the old men present answered with a loud "0 ! !" 
the same as "Amen." Father Allouez was horrified at thus 
Teceiving divine honors from these poor ignorant but well- 
meaning people. He preached to them most fervently, telling 
~them that he was not the Manitou, the master of their lives, 
but that he obeyed Him and carried His word all over the 
land. Father Marquette passed by this mission in June, 1673, 
when on his way to discover and explore the Mississippi. He 
■stayed there from the 7th till the 10th of June, and was much 
pleased *to see in the midst of the village a large cross, to 
which were attached quivers with arrows and other Indian 
-presents, in thanksgiving to God for having prospered their 
"last winter's chase. At the mouth of Des Moines River the 
same Father found a large settlement of Peorias, another 
'branch of the Illinois tribe, where he was received with the 
-greatest joy and respect. In 1675 he founded the mission of 
the Immaculate Conception among the Kaskaskias, another 
Illinois trifle, on the Illinois River, where he offered up the holy 
Mass on Holy Thursday and Easter Sunday,^ and .preached 
•the faith of Jesus Christ to an immense concourse of people. 
The Illinois were for a time under the care of two Recollect 
Fathers of the Order of St. Francis, namely, Gabriel de la 
!ERibourde and Zenobius Membre. On September the 9th, 
1680, Father GabriPil was ruthlessly murdered by some Kick- 
-apoo Indians. Father Sebastian R^le, who was afterwards 
>killed in his Abnaki Mission in the State of Maine by an 
.English and Indian war-party, and Father Gravier labored 

1 The first holy Mass offered up on Illinois soil was most probably said by 
J. Father Marquette about the 30th of June, 1673, on his voyage of discovery. 



216 

in Illinois. Father Marest was stationed at Kaskaskia 1700- 
1712, laboring with great fruit. Many other apostolic men 
worked successfully for the conversion of the various tribes- 
in Illinois. 



Chippewas, La Pointe. 

The Outchibouec, called also Otchipweg, Ojibways and 
Chippewas, are a numerous tribe, inhabiting both the north 
and south shores of Lake Superior, British America, Michi- 
gan, Wisconsin and eastern Minnesota. They are often called 
Saulteurs, Sauteurs, and Sauteux, from the Sault, their origi- 
nal home, rhey heard the first tidings of Christianity from 
Fathers Jogues and Raymbaut, in 1642, at Sault Ste. Marie^ 
at the great Indian feast of the dead. According to their 
traditions they came to La Pointe Island about four centuries 
ago, circa 1492. They had a large flourishing town on the 
southeast end of the island, where they had cleared a large 
tract of land and raised a great deal of corn and pumpkins. 
In the early part of the seventeenth century, about the year 
1612, they suddenly abandoned their island through.a super- 
stitious fear that it was haunted by ghosts. Many of them 
went back to the Sault (pron. Soo); others settled at the west 
end of Lake Superior, where Father Allouez found them^ 
between 1665-67, probably near Superior City. After the 
various tribes, whom the fear of the Iroquois had driven to 
Chequamegon Bay and the Apostle Islands, had left in 1670- 
71, the Chippewas of the south shore gradually returned and 
settled on the mainland, where Bayfield now stands, also at 
Pike's Bay and along the shore of Chequamegon Bay. Many 
also resided at Cheqaamegon Point, Odanah, at the head of 
the bay and near Michael Dufault's place. At an early date, 
probably already in 1695, the French built a fort on La 
Pointe Island. The location of the old French fort is involved 
in obscurity. Hon. Wm. W. Warren claims that is was 
built at Middlefort, near the old Indian cemetery. Tradition — 
the name, " Old Fort " — seems to point to the southeastern 
end of the island as the site somewhere near the place where 
Michael Cad otte built his trading post and fort in 1782. For 
many years the American Fur Company had a flourishing 



217 

trading poet on the island, and La Pointe was then one of 
the largest towns of Wisconsin. It is now but a historic 
relic, a most beautiful place for a summer resort, a place in- 
tended by nature for quiet enjoyment, rest, meditation and 
prayer. We hope it will never be transformed into a modern 
town with its noise, dirt, manure-piles, stinking oyster-can& 
and empty beer-kegs in the gutters. 

Here two treaties were made with the Chippewa Indians^ 
one in 1842 and the last in 1854, by which they ceded all 
their remaining lands in Wisconsin, and also large tracts in 
Minnesota and Michigan, to the United States for a considera- 
tion, perhaps not the one-thousandth part of their actual 
value. To give some idea of the wretched condition of the 
poor Indians, which made them, so to srj, give away for 
trifling annuities, large tracts of the most valuable agricul- 
tural, pine and mineral lands, the value of which they never 
knew or realized, but which was well comprehended by the 
grasping "Kitchi Mokoman " — "Big Knife," American, we 
append here the concluding remarks of two of their Chiefs, 
Esh-ke-bug-e-coshe and Nay-naw-ong-gay-bee. 

At a treaty made at the Mississippi, in 1855, the Chief 
Esh-ke-bug-e-coshe, "Wide Mouth,'' made the following re- 
marks in answer to the refusal of the goverument agents to 
accept a proposition of the chiefs, to sell their lands at a 
price double that offered them by the agent. He said^: 
" My father, I live away north on the headwaters of the Mis- 
sissippi; my children (band) are poor and destitute, and, as 
it were, almost naked, while yon, my father, are rich and well 
clothed. When I left my home to come to this treaty to 
sell my lands — for we know that we must sell for lohat we can 
get — the whites must have them — my braves, young men, women 
and children, held a council and begged of me to do the best 
I could in selling their homes ; and now, my father, I beg of 
you to accept of the proposition I have made you, and to- 
morrow I will start for home; and then you count the days 
which you know it will take me to reach there, and on the 
day of my arrival look north, and as you see the northern 
lights stream up in the sky, imagine to yourself that it is 
the congratulation of joy of my children ascending to God, 
that you have accepted of the proposition I have offered 
you." 

1 Wis. Hist. Coll. vol. II, pp. 343-344. 



218 

At the treaty made in La Pointe, in 1854, Nay-naw-ong- 
gay-bee, the " Dressing Bird," one of the head chiefs of the 
Courte Oreille band of Chippewas, made a speech expatiating 
on the destitute condition of his people, who were abjectly 
poor, many of the children being perfectly naked. We will 
only insert his concluding remarks: " My father, look around 
you, upon the faces of my poor people; sickness and hunger, 
whiskey and war are killing us fast. We are dying and fading 
away; we drop to the ground like the trees before the ax of 
the white man ; we are weak, you are strong. We are but 
foolish Indians — you have wisdom and knowledge in j'^our 
head; we want your help and protection. We have no 
homes, no cattle, no lands, and we will not need them long. A 
few short winters, my people will be no more. The winds 
shall soon moan around the last lodge of your red children. 
I grieve, but cannot turn our fate away. The sun, the moon, 
the rivers, the forests, we love so well, we must leave. We 
shall soon sleep in the ground — we will not awake again. I 
have no more to say to you, my father." We doubt whether 
anything more simple, touching and sad, was ever uttered 
by a white speaker. 



Crees and Sauteux of British America ; their customs, 
language and superstitions. 

The Crees have always been intimately united with the 
Chippewas ; their languages are very much alike, and they 
have the same usages and superstitions. They inhabit a 
large part of British America, especially on both sides of the 
Saskadjiwan. Father Belcourt,^ a zealous missionary of 
British America, who spent a great portion of his life 
among the Indians of that country and knew their language 
and customs well, speaking of the Crees and Sauteux 
(Chippewas of that region), says : 

" Their principal religious meeting takes place every 
spring, about the time when all the plants begin to awaken 
from their long winter sleep, and renew their life and com- 
■nence to bud. The ticket of invitation is a piece of tobacco 

1 Father G. A. Belcourt, in Annals of Minn. Hist. Soc. for 1853, vol. IV. 



219 

sent by the oldest person of the nation, indicating the place 
of rendezvous to the principal persons of the tribe. This is 
a national feast in which every individual is interested, it 
being the feast of medicines. Each head of a family is the 
physician of his children, but he cannot become no without 
having received a prelimiriary instruction and initiation into 
the secrets of medicine. It is at this feast that each one is 
received. All the ceremonies which they perform are em- 
blematical and signify the virtues of plants in the cure of 
various maladies of man. 

" Another superstition, proper to cure evils which have 
place more in the imagination than in the body, is the Nibi- 
kiwin. It consists in drawing out the evil directly, in draw- 
ing the breath and spitting in the eyes of the sick person. 
The pretended cause of suffering is sometimes a stone, a 
fruit, the point of an arrow, or even a medicine wrapped up 
in cotton. One cannot conceive how much these poor people 
submit with blind faith to these absurdities. 

" Lastly, curiosity and the desire of knowing the future, 
has invented the Tchissakiwin. It consists of certain 
formalities, songs, invocation of spirits, and bodily agitations, 
which are so energetic that you are carried back to the times 
of the ancient Sybils; they seem to say to you, Deus, ecce Deus, 
and then submitting to the questions of the spectators, 
they always have a reply, whether it be to tell what 
passes at a distance, or reveal the place where objects which 
have been lost may be found. As the skill of the prophet 
consists in replying in ambiguous terms upon all subjects of 
which he has not been able to procure information in ad- 
vance, he is always sure of success, either more or less strik- 
ing. 

" Dreams are for the Sauteux revelations ; and the bird, 
animal, or even a stone, or whatever it may be, which is the 
principal subject of the dream, becomes a tutelary spirit, for 
which the dreamer has a particular veneration. As dreams 
are more apt to visit a sick person, when the brain is more 
subject to these abberations, many such have a number of 
dreams, and consequently many tutelary spirits. They keep 
images and statues in their medicine-bags, and never lose 
sight of them, but carry them about wherever they go. The 
faith of the Sauteux in their medicine is such that they be- 



220 

lieve a disease can be thrown into an absent person, or that 
certain medicines can master the mental inclinations, such as 
love or hatred. Thus it is the interest of these old men ta 
pander to the young. 

" Their writings are composed of arbitrary hieroglyphics^ 
and the best writer is he who is most skillful in using such 
signs as most fully represent his thoughts. Though this 
manner of writing is very defective, it is nevertheless in- 
genious and very useful, and has this advantage over all 
other languages, since it depicts the thoughts and not the 
word, just as figures represent numbers in all languages. 

" Though the Sauteux have no idea of the state they shall 
find themselves in after death, they believe in the existence 
of a future life. They have very strange ideas on this sub- 
ject ; in consequence of some of these, they place near the 
deceased his arms and the articles most necessary to life. 
Some have even gone so far as to have their best horse killed 
at their death, in order, as they said, to use him in traveling 
to the country of the dead. It is the general belief that the 
spirit returns to visit the grave very often, so long as the 
body is not reduced to dust. During this space of time, it is 
held a sacred duty, on the part of the relatives of the de- 
ceased, to make sacrifices and offerings, and celebrate festi- 
vals before the tomb. In the time of fruits, they carry them 
in great abundance to the tomb, and he who nourishes him- 
self with them after they have been deposited there, causes 
great joy to the parents and relations of the deceased. 

" The Sauteux have also some knowledge of astronomy y 
they have names for the most remarkable constellations ;. 
they have names also for the lunar months; but their calcu- 
lations, as can be conceived, are very imperfect, and they 
often find themselves in great embarrassment, and have re- 
course to us to solve their difficulties. The electric fluid 
manifested in thunder, the rays of light of the Aurora 
Borealis are, in their imagination, animated beings ; the 
thunders, according to them, are supernatural beings, and 
the rays of the Aurora Borealis are the dead who dance. 

" Their idea of the creation of the world goes no further 
back than the deluge, of which thej^ bave still a tradition, 

the narration of which would fill volumes I will tell 

the part which relates to the creation. 'An immortal genius 
(demi-god), seeing the water which covered the earth, and 



221 

finding nowhere a resting place for his foot, ordered a beaver, 
an otter, and other amphibious animals, to plunge by turns 
into the water and bring up a little earth to the surface. 
They were all drowned. A (musk) rat, however, succeeded 
in reaching the bottom, and took some earth in his paws, 
but he died before he got back; yet his body rose to the sur- 
face of the water. The genius, Nenabojou (Ma-nah-bo-sho), 
seeing that he had found earth, brought him to life, and em- 
ployed him to continue the work. When there was a suffi- 
cient quantity of earth, he made a man, whom he animated 
with his breath.' This genius is not the Great Spirit (Kitchi 
Manitou), of whom they never speak, except with respect ; 
while Nenabojou is considered a buffoon of no gravity. 

" The Sauteux have a great passion for gambling. They 
pass whole days and nights in play, staking all they have, 
even their guns and traps, and sometimes their horses; they 
have staked even their wives upon the play. 

"Their love of intoxicating liquors is, as among all other 
savage tribes, invincible. A Sauteux, who was convinced 
of religion, wished to become a Christian; but he could not 
be admitted without renouncing indulgence in drinking to 
excess. He complained bitterly that the Hudson Bay Com- 
pany had reduced his people to such a pitiable state by 
bringing rum into the country, of which they would never 
have thought if they had not tasted it. 

"The Sauteux are one of the most warlike of nations. 
From time immemorial, they have had the advantage over 
their numerous enemies, and pushed them to the North. 
They treat the vanquished with most horrible barbarity. It 
is then that they are cannibals ; for, though we see some- 
times among them cases of anthropophagy (cannibalism), 
they have such a horror of it, that he, who has committed 
this act, is no longer sure of his life. They hold it a sacred 
duty to put him to death on the first favorable occasion. 
But during war they make a glory of cannibalism. The 
feast of victory is very often composed of human flesh. One 
sees a trait of this barbarity in the names they give to their 
principal enemies, as for instance the Sioux, whom they 
call "Bwanak." As I remarked before, it is not rare that 
they add to or retrench a little their proper names, which 
renders their interpretation rather difficult for strangers. In 
the word that I have mentioned, bwan is put for abwan, 



222 

which signifies a piece of flesh put on the spit. Thus the 
word Ahwanah, which they have shortened by calling Bwanak, 
signifieB those whom one roasts on a spit. In their great 
war-parties, after the victory, the Sauteux build a great fire, 
then plant all around spits laden with the thighs, heads, 
hearts, etc., of their enemies, after which they return home." 
What Father Belcourt says of the Sauteux and Crees of 
British America, can be applied in a great measure to the 
other Indian tribes that resided in the St. Lawrence valley 
and in the country of the " Great Lakes." More than one 
Catholic missionary and many a poor Frenchman has been 
burnt to death at the stake, and their bodies devoured by 
the Iroquois of New York. Perrot tells how four Sioux were 
made soup of by the Ottawas in their village on Chequame- 
gon Bay in the winter of 1670-71. The Chippewas of the 
South Shore are more civilized than those of the North, and 
never indulge in the horrible practice of cannibalism, which 
they abhor and detest as much as the whites. 



Sioux, called Bwanag — Meaning of the word. 

The "Bwalag" of the "Relations" are the same people whom 
the Chippewas still call '' Bwanag," i. e. Sioux. The " Re- 
lation " of 1660, p. 13, says that the word Bwalag or Bwanag 
means warriors. It is uncertain whether the word Bwanag 
is Chippewa or derived from some other Algonquin dialect. 
Wm. W. Warren, a Chippewa half-breed well educated, says- 
the word is Chippewa, and is an abbreviation of Abwanag, 
meaning "Roasters," from "nmd abive," I roast, abwan, a roast. 
The Ottawas call the Sioux "Nadowessi," i. e. 'Little Adder," 
the diminutive of "nadowe" an adder, which name they give 
to the Iroquois, their fearful enemies of old in the east, which 
appellation significantl}'^ expresses the sneaking, treacherous,, 
serpentine, and cruel disposition of the Iroquois tribe. 

The Sioux call themselves Dakotas; Nicolas Perrot in his 
"Memoire" calls them Sioux, an abbreviation of Nadoues- 
doux; Father Allouez calls them Nadouessiouek, and Mar- 
quette, Nadouessi (Nah-doo-wes-see). They are described in 
the ''Relations" as a very powerful and warlike tribe, living 
some 40-50 leagues west of La Pointe du Saint Esprit. Father 



223 

Allouez first met with them at the west end of Lake Superior, 
near Duluth or Superior. In 167 L they drove the Ottawas 
and the Hurons from the shores ofChequamegonBay. They 
were almost continually at war with the Chippewas, by 
whom they were gradually driven out of Wisconsin and 
eastern Minnesota, beyond the Mississippi, and the latter 
occupied their fine hunting grounds near Red Lake, Leech 
Lake and vicinity, Minnesota. In 1862 the Sioux massacred 
about 700 whites, most of them industrious, inoffensive Ger- 
mans. In 1876, led by Sitting Bull, they completely an- 
nihilated General Custer's forces. They have been removed 
to Dakota, where missionaries are laboring at Christianizing 
them. 



Mode of life among the Sioux. 

We insert the following lines taken from an article of Ed- 
ward D. Neill, in "Annals of the Minn. Hist. Soc. for 1853, 
Number IV": 

" The heathen in their manner of life are essentially the 
same all over the world. They are all given to uncleanness. 
As you walk through a small village, in a Christian land, you 
notice many appearances of thrift and neatness. The day- 
laborer has his lot fenced and his rude cabin whitewashed. 
The widow, dependent upon her own exertion and alone in 
the world, finds pleasure in training the honeysuckle or the 
morning-glory to peep in at her windows. The poor seam- 
stress, though obliged to lodge in some upper room, has a 
few flower-pots upon her window-sill, and perhaps a canary 
bird in a cage hanging outside. But in an Indian village all is 
filth and litter. There are no fences around their bark huts; 
whitewashing is a lost art, if it was ever known among them; 
worn out moccasins, tattered blankets, old breech-cloths, and 
pieces of leggins are strewn in confusion all over the ground. 
Water, except in very warm weather, seldom touches their 
bodies, and the pores of their skin become filled with grease 
and the paint with which they daub themselves. Neither 
Monday or any other day is known as washing-day. Their 
cooking utensils are encrusted with dirt and used for a variety 
of purposes. A year or two ago a band of Indians, with their 



224 

dogs, ponies, women and children, came on board of a steam- 
boat on the Upper Mississippi on which the writer was 
traveling. Their evening meal, consisting of beans and wild 
meat, was prepared on the lower deck, beneath the windows 
of the ladies' cabin. After they had used their fingers in the 
place of forks and consumed the food which they had cooked 
in a dirty iron pan, one of the mothers, removing the blanket 
from one of her children, stood it up in the same pan, and 
then dipping some water out of the river began to wash it 
from head to foot. The rest of the band looked on with 
Indian composure, and seemed to think that an iron stew- 
pan was just as gooa for washing babies as for cooking beans 1 
Where there is so much dirt, of course vermin must abound. 
They are not much distressed by the presence of those in- 
sects which are so nauseating to the civilized man. Being 
without shame, a common sight of a summer's eve is a woman 
or child with her head in another's lap, who is kindly killing 
the fleas and other vermin that are burrowing in the low, 
matted and uncombed hair. 

" The Dakotas have no regular time for eating. Dependent 
as they are, upon hunting and fishing for subsistence, they 
vacillate from the proximity of starvation to gluttony. It 
is considered uncourteous to refuse an invitation to a feast, 
and a single man will sometimes attend six or seven in a day 
and eat intemperately. Before they came in contact with 
the whites they subsisted upon venison, buffalo and dog 
meat. The latter animal has always been considered a deli- 
cacy for these epicures. In illustration of these remarks I 
transcribe an extract from a journal of a missionary, who 
visited Lake Traverse in April, 1839: 

" Last evening at dark our Indians returned, having eaten 
to the full of buffalo and dog meat. I asked one how many 
times they were feasted. He said, 'Six, and if it had not be- 
come dark so soon, we should have been called three or four 
times more!' This morning 'Burning Earth' (Chief of the 
Sissetonwan Dakotas) came again to our encampment, and 
moving, we accompanied him to his village at the south- 
western end of the lake In the afternoon I visited the 

chief; found him just about to leave for a dog feast to which 
he had been called. When he had received some papers of 
medicine I had for him, he left, saying, 'The Sioux love dog 
meat as well as white people do pork.' " 



225 

" In this connection it should be stated, that the Dakotas 

(Sioux) have no regular hours for retiring They sleep 

whenever inclination prompts; some by day and some by 
night. If you were to enter the Dakota village, iour miles 
below St. Paul, at midnight, you might, perhaps, see some 
few huddled around the tire of a tepee (as they call their 
wigwams), listening to the tale of an old Indian warrior, who 
was often engaged in bloody conflict with their ancient and 
present enemies, the Ojibways; or you might hear the un- 
earthly chanting of some medicine man, endeavoring to 
exorcise some spirit from a sick man; or you might see some 
lounging about, whiffing out of their sacred red stone pipes, 
the smoke of kinnikinnik, a species of willow bark; or you 
might see some of the young men sneaking around a lodge, 

or you might hear a low, wild drumming, and then see 

a group of men, daubed with vermilion and other paints, all 
excited and engaged in some of their grotesque dances; or a 
portion may be firing their guns into the air, being alarmed 
by some imaginary evil, and supposing that same enemy is 
lurking about. 

" Dakota females deserve the sympathy of every tender 
heart. From early childhood they lead " worse than a dog's 

life." On a winter's day, a Dakota mother is often obliged 

to travel five, eight, or ten miles, with the lodge, camp kettle, 
ax, child, and small dogs upon her back. Arriving late in 
the afternoon, at the appointed camping ground, she clears 
off the snow from the spot upon which she is to erect the 
tepee. She then, from the nearest marsh or grove, cuts down 
some poles, about ten feet in length. With these she forms 
a framework for the tent. Unstrapping her pack, she unfolds 
the tent cover, which is seven or eight buffalo skins stitched 
together, and brings the bottom part to the base of the frame. 
She now obtains a long pole and fastening it to the skin 
covering she raises it. The ends are drawn around the frame 
until they meet, and the edges of the covering are secured 
by wooden skewers or tent pins. The poles are then spread 
out on the ground, so as to make as large a circle inside as 
she desires. Then she or her children proceed to draw the 
skins down so as to make them fit tightly. An opening is 
left where the poles meet at the top, to allow the smoke to 
escape. The fire is built upon the ground in the centre of 
the lodge. Buffalo skins are placed around, and from seven 



226 

to fifteen lodge there through a winter's night, with far more- 
comfort than a child of luxury upon a bed of down. Water 
is to be drawn and wood cut for the night. The camp kettle 
is suspended and preparations made for the evening meaL 
If her lord and master has not by this time arrived from 
the day's hunt, she is busied in mending moccasins. Such 
is a scene which has been enacted by hundreds of females 

this very winter in Minnesota As a consequence of this- 

hard treatment, the females of this nation are not possessed 
of very happy faces, and frequently resort to suicide to put 
an end to earthly troubles." 



Father Marquette. 

Father James Marquette was born in Laon, a city of 
France, in 1637. At the age of seventeen he entered the- 
Society of Jesus and was ordained early in 1666. The same 
year he sailed to Canada, where he landed on the 20th of 
September. On the 10th of October he started for Three 
Rivers to learn the Montaignais language, under Father Gab- 
riel Druilletes, being destined for the northeastern mission. 
He remained in Three Rivers until 1668 when he was ordered 
to prepare for the Ottawa mission. He left Quebec April 21, 
1668, with three companions to go to Montreal, to await there 
the Ottawa flotilla. A party of Nez-Perces came with Father 
Louis Nicolas, who had gone with Father Allouez to La 
Pointe du Saint Esprit, in 1667, and with them Marquette 
departed for Sault Ste. Marie, in 1668. He was the first 
resident priest of that mission being stationed there for about 
one year or a little more. He may, therefore, be called the 
founder of the Sault Ste. Marie mission. This mission was 
located at the foot of the rapids, on the Aitierican side,, 
about nine miles below the mouth of Lake Superior. 

In 1669. Father Claude Dablon came to Sault Ste. Marie,. 
as Superior of the upper missions. Father Marquette was- 
sent to La Pointe du Saint Esprit, where he arrived on the 
13th of September, 1669. Father Allouez, his predecessor 
there, left the Sault on the 3d of November of the same 
year, and arrived at the head of Green Bay on the 2d of 
December, vigil of St. Francis Xavier, Patron-Saint of the 



227 

Green Bay mission. Father Marquette was stationed at the- 
head of Ashland Bay till 1671, when, on account of the war 
that had broken out, he was obliged to remove with the- 
Huron portion of his flock to St. Ignace, Mackinaw. It was 
from Mackinaw that he started in the early part of 1673, on 
his voyage of discovery. 



Father Dablon. 

Father Claudius Dablon came to Canada in 1655, and wa& 
employed in the mission Onondaga till 1658. Three years 
later we find him and Father Gabriel Druilletes, the "A postle- 
of the Abnaki in Maine," who was afterwards stationed for 
many years at Sault Ste. Marie, attempting to reach Hudson 
Bay, by the Saguenay. After suffering many and great 
hardships on their journey through the trackless wilderness,, 
they were arrested at the sources of the Necouba, by Iroquois- 
war parties. The journal of their trip is given in the 
" Relation " of 1661." In 1669, he arrived at Sault Ste. Marie,. 
Michigan, whither Father Marquette had preceded him in 
1668, and he became Superior of the Algonquin missions of 
the- Northwest. In 1670, he came to Green Bay, and with 
Allouez visited in September of the same year the Mission 
of St. James, located on the Upper Fox River, a short dis- 
tance from the junction of said river with the Wisconsin. 
Shortly after, he returned to Quebec to assume his post as- 
superior of all the Canada, missions under the care of his 
Order, which office he held with intervals for many years,, 
certainly till 1693. As the head of the missions, he con- 
tributed a great deal to their extension, and above all, to the 
exploration of the Mississippi, by Father Marquette. He 
published the Relations of 1670-71-72, with an accurate map 
of Lake Superior, most probably drawn by Fathers Allouez 
and Marquette, the two Fathers best acquainted with the 
topography of said lake. He prepared also the Relations 
from 1672 to 1679, for the press, but they were not printed 
and existed only in manuscript form till within a few years 
prior to this writing. He likewise prepared Father Mar- 
quette's Journal, describing his discovery and exploration 
of the Mississippi, for the press, which journal, together with 
many other highly valuable and interesting papers relating 



228 

to the exploration of said river has been published by the 
learned historian, John Gilmary Shea, in his work "Discovery 
and Exploration of the Mississippi," a work we most highly 
recommend to all who take an interest in the early history 
of our western country. 



Great mass-meeting at Sault Ste. Marie in 1671; Names 

OF THOSE WHO SIGNED THE TREATY; PeRROT's ACCOUNT. 

"The treaty was signed in the presence of Dablon,^ Supe- 
rior of the mission, and his colleagues, Dreuilletes, Allouez,^ 
Andre of the Society of Jesus ; Nicolas Perrot,^ inter- 
preter; Sieur Jolly ef; Jacques Mogras of Three Rivers; Pierre 
Moreau, the Sieur de la Taupine; Denis Masse; Frangois de 
Chavigny, Sieur de la Chevrottiere ; Jacques Lagillier, Jean 
Maysere, Nicholas Dupuis, Frangois Bibaud, Jacques Joviel, 
Pierre Porteret,^ Robert Duprat, Vital Driol, Guillaume Bon- 
homme." (Margry, vol. I, p. 97.) 

Nicholas Perrot says:'' 

" The first vessels from France arrived at Quebec whilst all 
the (Ottawa and Iroquois) chiefs were there. M. de Cour- 
celles received some letters from M. Talon, who wrote to him 
on the necessity of engaging in his service such Frenchmen 
as had been with the Outaouas and knew their language, so 
thathe could go there and assume possession of their country in 
the name of the king. M. de Courcelles cast his eye first on 
me and made me wait in Quebec until the return of M. L'ln- 
tendant. 

" When the latter had arrived, he asked me if I would like 
to go to the Outaouas, as interpreter, and conduct there his 

1 Dablon and Dreuilletes were stationed at the Sault, thoug-h Dablon spent 
a part ot the winter of 1670-71 at Mackinaw, building a rude bark chapel 
there. 

2 Allouez an d Andre were stationed at Green Bay, Andre having- charge of 
the missionary stations at the head ot said bay, while Allouez attended the 
Inland missions. 

3 Nicolas Perrot, the author of the "Memoire," held several offices under 
the Canadian government, was "Coureur de bois," interpreter, and kind of 
governor or commandant at Green Bay, between 1665-1701. 

4 Jollyet accompanied rather Marquette upon his voyage of discovery and 
exploration down the Mississippi. 

5 Pierre Porteret accompanied Father Marquette on his last journey to the 
Illinois in 1674, and was present at his death on the eastern shore of Lake 
Michigan in 1675. 

6 "Memoire," pp. 136-138. 



229 

subdelegate, whom he would place there to take possession of 
their country. I informed him that I was always ready to 
obey him, and oflFered him my services. I left, therefore, 
with the Sieur de Saint Lusson, his subdelegate, and we ar- 
rived at Montreal, where we remained till the beginning of 
the month, October (1670). We were obliged on our way to 
winter with the Amikouets (Beaver Indians). The Saulteurs 
(Chippewas of Sault Ste. Marie) also wintered at the same 
place and secured more than two thousand four hundred elks 
on an island called the "Island of the Outaouas," which ex- 
tends the length of Lake Huron, from the point opposite St. 
Francis River to that of the Missisakis, going towards Michil- 
limakinak (Manitouline Island). This extraordinary chase 
was nevertheless only made with snares. 

" I sent them word to return to their country in the spring 
as soon as possible, to hear the word of the king, which the 
Sieur Saint Lusson brought to them, and to all the tribes. I 
likewise sent Indians to inform those of the north to return 
to their country. I dragged and then carried my canoe to 
the other side of the island, where I embarked; for it is to be 
remarked that the lake (Huron) never freezes except on the 
side where we wintered and not towards the offing, on 
account of the continual winds which agitate it there. Thence 
we started to go to the bay of the Foxes and Miamies, which 
is not very far distant, and I caused all. the chiefs to go to 
Sault Ste. Marie, where the pole was to be erected and the 
arms of France attached, to take possession of the Outaouac 
country. It was the year 1669^ that this took place. 

" On the 5th of the month of May, I went to Sault Ste. 
Marie with the principal chiefs of the Pouteouatamies, Sakis, 
Puants (Winnebagoes), Malhommis (Menominees) Those of 
the Foxes, Mascoutechs (Maskoutens), Kikaboos (Kickapoos) 
and Miamies did not pass the bay (Green Bay). Among 
them was a man with the name of Tetinchoua, head chief of 
the Miamies, who, as if he were their king, had day and night 
in his wigwam forty young men as a body-guard. The vil- 
lage over which he ruled had from four to five thousand 
braves; in one word, he was feared and respected by all his 

1 Perrot's mistake; it was the 14th of June, 16T1. The "Relation" of 1671, 
p. 26, gives the 4th of June, also a mistake, made probably by the copyist. 
Perrot probably wrote his "Memoire" many years after the treaty, hence he 
forgot the precise year when it was made. 



230 

neighbors. They say, however, that he was of a very mild 
disposition and that he conversed only with his lieutenants, 
or people of his council charged with his orders. The 
Pouteouatamies did not venture through respect for him to 
have him exposed to dangers or mishaps in making the voy- 
-age, fearing for him the fatigues of the canoe and that in con- 
sequence thereof he might fall sick. They represented to him 
that, should any accident happen to him, his people would 
believe themselves deserving of blame for it, and that they 
would take upon themselves the dangers of the voyage. He 
finally yielded to their reasons and requested them to do for 
him in the matter (under consideration) as he would do for 
them if he were there present. I had explained to them what 
the question was and why they had been called (to the 
treaty). 

" I found at my arrival, not only the chiefs of the north, 
but also all the Kiristinons (Crees), Monsonis and whole 
villages of their neighbors; the chiefs of the Nipissings were 
■there also, besides those of the Amikouets and all of the 
-Saulteurs, who had their settlement in the place itself. The 
pole was erected in their presence and the arms of France 
attached to it with the consent of all the tribes, who, not 
knowing how to write, gave presents as their signatures, de- 
.claring in this manner that they placed themselves under the 
protection and obedience of the king. The Process-Verbal 
was drawn up in regard to this act of assuming possession, 
which I signed as interpreter, with the Sieur de Saint Lusson, 
subdelegate ; the Rev. Missionary Fathers Dablon, Allouez, 
Dreuilletes and Marquet signed lower down, and below them 
the French who were trafficking in the various localities. This 
ivas done following the instructions given by M. Talon. After 
that, all those tribes returned each to their country and lived 
several years without any trouble from one side or the other. 

" I forgot to say that the Hurons and Outaouas did not 
arrive till after the act of taking possession, for they had fled 
from Chagouamigon (Chequamegon) on account of having 
eaten some Sioux, as I have related above. They were in- 
formed of what had lately been done, and agreed, like the 
rest, to all that had been concluded and decided on" 



231 



•Copy of the Process- Verbal of the taking possession of 
THE Indian country/ 

Preliminary remarks of Father J. Tailhan, S. J., publisher 
.«,nd annotator of Perrot's "Memoire." 

" The "Relation" of 1671 (see text) and La Potherie (II, pp. 
128-130) contain many details in regard to this act of taking 
•possession omitted by Perrot, to which the reader is'referred. 
I will merely give here the unpublished Process- Verbal of 
that ceremony, after the somewhat incorrect copy deposited 

in the archives of the marine The passages suppressed 

and replaced by dots offer no historical interest; they are but 
^simple protocols or useless repetitions." 

Process- Verbal. 

" Simon Frangois Daumont, esquire, Sieur de Saint Lusson, 
commissioned subdelegate of Monseigneur, the Intendant of 
New France 

" In accordance with the orders we have received from 
Monseigneur, the Intendant of New France, the 3d of last 
July to immediately proceed to the country of the In- 
dian Outaouais, Nez-percez, Illinois, and other nations, dis- 
covered and to be discovered, in North America, in the 
region of Lake Superior or Mer-Douce (Huron), to make 
•there search and discovery of mines of all sorts, especially of 
copper, ordering us moreover to take possession in the name 
■of the king of all the country, inhabited or not inhabited, 
'through which we might pass We, in virtue of our com- 
mission, have made our first disembarkment at the village or 
burg of Sainte Marie du Sault, the place where the Rev. 
■Jesuit Fathers make their mission, and where the Indian 
tribes, called Achipoes, Malamechs, Noguets, and others, 
make their actual abode. We have convoked there as many 
other tribes as it was in our power to assemble, and they met 
there to the number of fourteen tribes, namely the Achipo^s^, 
Malamechs^, Noguets^, Banabeoueks^, Makomiteks®, Poul- 



1 "Memoire," pp. 292-294. 

2 Chippewas; 3, Merameg, Man-um-aig, "Catfish"; 4, Noquets, No-kaig 
•"Bear Family or Clan"; 5, Ne-baun-aub-alg(?), "Merman Clan"; 6, Makomi- 



232 

teatemis', Oumaloumines^, Sassaouacottons^, dwelling at the 
Bay called that of the Puants (Green Bay), and who have 
taken it upon themselves to make it (treaty) known to their 
neighbors, who are the Illinois^", Mascouttins' % Outagamis^*, 
and other nations ; also the Christinos^^, Assinipouals^*, 
Aumossomiks^^, Outaouais-Couscottons^®, Niscaks", Mask- 
wikoukiaks^^, all of them inhabiting the countries of the 
North and near the sea, who have charged themselves with 
making it known to their neighbors, who are believed to be 
in great numbers dwelling near the shores of the same sea. 
We have caused this, our said commission, to be read to 
them in the presence of the Rev. Fathers of the Society of 
Jesus, and of all the Frenchmen named below, and have had 
it interpreted by Nicolas Perrot, interpreter of His Majesty in 
this matter, in order that they may not be able (to claim) to 
be ignorant of it. Having then caused a cross to be erected 
to produce there the fruits of Christianity, and near it a 
cedar-pole, to which we have attached the arms of France, 
saying three times with a loud voice and public proclama- 
tion, that IN THE NAME OF THE MOST HIGH, MOST 
POWERFUL, AND MOST REDOUBTABLE MONARCH, 
LOUIS XIV. OF NAME, MOST CHRISTIAN KING OF 
FRANCE AND NAVARRE, we take possession of said 
place, Sainte Marie du Sault, as also of the Lakes Huron and 
Superior, the Island of Caientaton (Manitouline), and of all 
other lands, rivers, lakes and streams contiguous to and ad- 
jacent here, as well discovered as to be discovered, which 
are bounded on the one side by the seas of the North and 
West, and on the other side by the sea of the South, in its 
whole length or depth, taking up at each of the said three 
proclamations a sod of earth, crying 'Vive le Roy!' and 
causing the same to be cried by the whole assembly, as well 
French as Indians, declaring to the said nations aforesaid 
and hereafter that from henceforth they were to be protegees 
(subjects) of His Majesty, subject to obey his laws and 
follow his customs, promising them all protection and succor 
on his part against the incursion and invasion of their 
enemies, declaring to all other potentates, sovereign princes, 

teks(?); 7, Pottawatamies ; 8, Menominees; 9, Nassawaketons, "People of the 
Fork"; 10, Illinois; 11, Mashkouteng, Muskatine, Muscoda, "Prairie People"; 
13, Foxes; 13, Crees; 14, Assineboines, "Stons'-country Sioux" ; 15, Mousoneeg, 
"Moose"; 16, Ottawa Kiskakon (?) or Ataouabouskatouk, a Cree tribe; 17, 
KiskakoDS (?); 18, Maskwakeeg (?), Foxes, or Mikikoueks. 



233 

as well States as Republics, to them or their subjects, that 
they neither can nor shall seize upon or dwell in any place 
of this country, unless with the good pleasure of his said 
most Christian Majesty, and of him who shall govern the 
land in his name, under penalty of incurring his hatred and 
the efforts of his arms. And that none may pretend ignor- 
ance of this transaction, we have now attached on the re- 
verse side of the arms of France our Process-Verbal of the 
taking possession, signed by ourselves and the persons be- 
low named, who were all present. 

" Done at Sainte Marie du Sault, the 14th day of June, in 
the year of grace 1671. 

Daumont de Saint Lusson. 
(Then follow the signatures of the witnesses.) 

The annotator remarks : " In conclusion I will point out a 
slight error of Perrot. Father Marquette did not figure among 
the witnesses of the act of assuming possession. At that time 
he was with the Hurons and Outaouacs, who did not arrive 
at the Sault till after the ceremony. In place, therefore, of 
Father Marquette, the name of Father Andre should be sub- 
stituted in our text (Perrot's account of the treaty), whose 
name is read in the Process -Verbal of M. de Saint Lusson 
among those of the other witnesses, after the name of the 
subdelegate. " 



Menominees; Labors op Father Van den Broek among 
THAT Tribe at Green Bay, Little Chute, 

AND elsewhere. 

The Menominees, now a populous tribe, were few in num- 
ber at the time Father Allouez first appeared among them. 
They are an Algonquin tribe, though their language differs 
considerably from the Chippewa and Ottawa, two other tribes 
of the Algonquin family of natives.^ Father Allouez, although 
well versed in Algonquin, found it difficult to understand 
them. Their principal village was near the mouth of the 
Menominee River, which empties into Green Bay. Here 
Father Allouez visited them for the first time on the 8th of 
May, 1670, and established the mission of St. Michael. There 
were also two villages of that tribe on the western shore of 



234 

Green Bay, one at Chouskoiiabika and the other at Ossaoua- 
migoung. In both of these villages Father Andre labored, 
and made many converts. Chouskouabika, called also Chous- 
kouanabika, was located near the site of the modern town of 
Pensaukee. The word means " there are many smooth, flat 
stones" — French, "auxgalets." The name Ossaouamigoung 
is a corrupt form of OssaAvamikong (from ossawa " yellow," 
and amik a beaver) and means " The place of the yellow 
beaver," or perhaps, " Beaver-tail." This mission was near 
Suamico, a corruption of the Indian name, as Pensaukee is a 
corrupt form of Peshaking or Pensaking (from Pejakiwan, 
Pensakiwan, " the land is marked, streaked"). There were 
also many Menominees at the mouth of Fox River. They 
subsequently extended their settlements along the last named 
river, and many resided at Little Chute prior to 1842, when 
they sold a large tract of land to the United States and moved 
to Poygan (Pawagan). At present they reside on a reserva- 
tion on the Wolf River, in Shawano county, and are attended 
by the Franciscan Fathers residing at Keshina. As Father 
Van den Broek labored for many years among this tribe, a 
short account of his labors will not be out of place here. 

Father Theodore J. Van den Broek was stationed for some 
time in Alkmaar, Holland, and belonged to the Dominican 
Order. He left his native land in 1832, and having landed 
at Baltimore, he proceeded via Wheeling, Cincinnati and 
Louisville to St. Rose, near Springfield, Washington county, 
Kentucky, where there was a house of his Order, with four- 
teen Fathers and four lay-brothers. The whole journey from 
Antwerp, Belgium, to St. Rose, took nine weeks. Here he 
prepared himself for missionary work, studying the language 
and customs of the country. After a short stay at St. Rose 
he was removed to Somerset, Perry county, Ohio, where 
there was another house of his Order. M. Grignon, an esteem- 
able and worthy lady, now residing at Green Bay, used to 
interpret for him sometimes at Somerset. 

On the 4th of July, 1834, he arrived in Green Bay, to 
labor in the Indian missionary field. Here he found only 
ten Catholic white families, although more were living at a 
distance in the interior of the State at Little Chute, Butte 
des Morts, etc. He completed the priest's house, begun by 
Father Mazzuchelli, and labored zealously among the whites 



235 

and Indians of his flock. The Catholic Church and priest's 
house were then located at Menomineeville (Shanteetown) 
half way between Green Bay and Depere. Scarcely a year 
after his arrival the towns of Navarino and Astor, now Green 
Bay, were built, and as the Catholics of these places formed 
one congregation with those of Menomineeville, we will call 
the mission Green Bay. - 

The first building in Green Bay, used as school-house and 
chapel, was built of logs in 1823, and was destroyed by fire 
in 1825, through carelessness in makhig fire to drive off 
mosquitoes. In 1831, Bishop Fenwick selected a site for a 
new church, which was begun by Rev. S. Mazzuchelli and 
finished by the Redemptorist Fathers Sanderl and Hatscher 
in November, 1832, at a cost of $3000. This church burned 
down in 1846. A subsequent church, bought of the Metho- 
dists, shared the same fate in 1871. 

Father Van den Broek labored at Green Bay, sometimes 
alone sometimes with Father Mazzuchelli, from 1834 till the 
winter of 1836. It seems he left Green Bay in December of 
that year and came to reside at Little Chute. As the Redemp- 
torist Fathers Sanderl and Hatscher and Prost, remained but 
a short time in Green Bay, the care of that mission devolved 
again upon Father Van den Broek for the next two years, 
from 1836-38. He used to have mass there every other Sun- 
day. While yet residing in Green Bay, he often said two 
masses on Sundays, the first one at Green Bay (Menominee- 
ville), and the second at Little Chute, walking it at that, 
although the distance is twenty to twenty-four miles! Once 
his feet bled profusedly from the pegs in his boots, whence 
he was obliged to stop on his way to get them extracted. 
Another time he lost his boots in the thick, sticky mud. 
Truly his was not an easy life. Besides the hardships of the 
road he had often to endure hunger, as his Indians were 
rather negligent in providing for his wants. When he first 
came to Little Chute, he lived for half a year in a wigwam, 
fifteen feet long and six feet high, which served as church, 
dwelling and school, for he began at once to teach his Indian 
neophytes to learn their A B C, so as to' be soon able to read 
Bishop Baraga's prayer and catechetical books. Here in his 
wigwam he was visited by snakes, wolves, and that worst of 
all nuisances, starving Indian dogs, who would often steal 



236 

the poor Father's next meal, stowed away in the shape ot 
meat or fish, in some old Indian kettle! 

His mission embraced almost the whole State of Wisconsin, 
for some years. He attended Green Ba}^ Little Chute, Butte 
des Morts, Fort Winnebago, near Portage City, Fond du Lac, 
Prairie du Chien, Poygan, Calumet and other places, visiting 
the more distant missions generally in winter. Oftentimes 
he had to sleep, during bitter cold winter nights, in the snow, 
with no other roof overhead than the starry canopy of 
Heaven and the snow his bed. Once, when called to attend 
a sick person, about 240 miles distant, he got lost in the 
woods, his guide having got drunk at a fort, where the Father 
had stopped over Sunday to give the Catholic soldiers a 
chance to attend to their religious duties. After riding about 
for several hours in the dark through the woods, having lost 
his way, he finally tied his horse to a tree, took off the 
saddle and used it for a pillow on which to rest his aching 
head. It rained fearfully, and wolves howled about him 
fiercely. Next morning hie said his j)rayers devoutly and 
made a vow that he would offer up a mass in thanksgiving, 
should he find his way out of the woods. He then mounted 
his horse, let the reins loose and allowed the animal to go 
whithersoever Divine Providence might direct it. In less 
than five minutes he was on the road and soon arrived at 
the sick person's house. Incidents like these give the reader 
some idea of the hardships and trials this apostolic man 
endured. 

But Father Van den Broek was not only a missionary; he 
was also a civilizer of his Indian people. He worked him- 
self most industriously and plowing his garden with hoe and 
spade raised the first year he came to Little Chute plenty of 
corn and potatoes, which, no doubt, his Indians helped him 
to eat up. The second year he raised sufficient breadstuffs 
besides vegetables, his Indians helping him with a good will 
to till the ground. He also trained them to handle carpenter 
tools, made them masons, plasterers, etc. With their help 
he erected a neat church, 70 ft. long with a nice little steeple, 
which he completed in 1839 and dedicated to St. John Nepo- 
muc, the glorious martyr who sealed with his blood the in- 
violability of the seal of Confession. Between 1884-42 he 
converted and baptized over six hundred Indians, not to 



237 

speak of those converted between the last named year and 
that of his death, 1851. 

But Father Van den Broek has not only a claim to the 
grateful remembrance of the Catholics of Wisconsin as a 
zealous Indian missionary, but also as an originator of Cath- 
olic colonization. On the 29th of May, 1847, he left Little 
Chute and crossing the broad Atlantic visited his native land, 
Holland. The same year he published at Amsterdam a 
pamphlet, describing some of the many advantages Wisconsin 
held out to the industrious immigrant, and induced many of 
his countrymen to settle in our State. Three ships with 
Hollanders sailed for America in 1848, in two of which were 
Catholic priests to attend to the spiritual wants of their 
countrymen, namely Fathers Godhard and Van den Broek. 
The latter sailed from Rotterdam, March 18th, 1848, in the 
"Maria Magdalena." May 7th he landed at New York, and 
the 9th of June arrived at Little Chute with a large number 
of Hollandish immigrants. These people settled at the last 
named place, also at Hollandtown, Green Bay, Depere, Free- 
dom and other localities. They were soon followed by others 
and at present form quite a large percentage of the Catholic 
population of the Green Bay diocese. They are second to 
none in strong, practical Catholicity, zeal for their church, re- 
ligion and schools, and command the respect of all classes of 
our people by their industry, thrift and orderly behavior. 
They are an honor to the country of their birth and a valu- 
able acquisition to the land of their adoption. The tree that 
Father Van den Broek planted at Little Chute, in 1848, has 
spread its branches over a large part of northeastern Wis- 
consin, and offshoots of it are found in Minnesota, Nebraska, 
Oregon and other States. 

Father Van den Broek continued to labor with his cus- 
tomary zeal after his return to Little Chute, in 1848, until his 
death in that town, Nov. 5th, 1851, at the age of sixty-eight 
years. He was succeeded by the Fathers of the Holy Cross, 
who for many years continued the work of their worthy 
predecessor, laboring zealously among the Hollanders, 
French, Irish, and Indian half-breeds of Little Chute and 
vicinity. 



238 

Short Sketch of the Green Bay Misson. 

The first white man that penetrated the wilds of Wisconsin 
was Jean Nicolet, an adventurous Frenchman, a zealous 
Catholic, and a man well versed in the Algonquin language, 
for which reason he was emjDloyed by the government as 
Indian interpreter at Three Kivers in 1636. In 1639 he 
pushed to the head of Green Bay, found there the Winne- 
bagoes, or " Sea Tribe," and made a treaty of peace in the 
name of the French government with the Indians assembled 
there to the number of four or five thousand. 

In 1669 Father Claude Allouez arrived there on the 2d of 
December, and established the mission of St. Francis Xavier, 
offering up the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass with all possible 
solemnity on the following day, Dec. 3d, feast of the above- 
named saint. He found there some eight young Frenchmen 
trading with the Indians. There were about 600 Sacs, Pot- 
tawatamies, Foxes and Winnebagoes in one village, near the 
mouth of Fox river, besides other smaller villages up the 
Fox river, and on both sides of the bay. Many of these 
Indians had received their first knowledge of Christianity 
whilst residing at Chagaouamigong (Chequamegon) Bay, 
whither they had fled through fear of the Iroquois prior to 
1665. 

Father Allouez soon made converts among the poor In- 
dians at the head of the bay, whom he describes as uncom- 
monly barbarous, ignorant and destitute. They soon learned 
to attend church regularly on Sundays and to chant the 
" Our Father " and " Hail Mary " in their own language. 
The headquarters of this first mission seems to have been 
located a short distance below the head of the bay, on the 
western shore, as he says the Menominees, " whom he found 
at their river," — Menominee river — were eight leagues from 
his cabin. 

In 1671 the mission was removed five miles up the Fox 
river, and a chapel built on the site of the present town of 
Depere, near the river. The spot is now covered with water. 
In 1670 the Father founded the mission of St. Mark on the 
Wolf river, probably six miles above Lake Winneconne. • 
The same year he established the mission of St. James on 
the Upper Fox river, about nine miles from the junction of 
the Fox and Wisconsin rivers. He also founded in May» 



239 

1670, the St. Michael's mission among the Menominees, near 
the mouth of the Menominee river. 

In 1670 Father Louis Andre was sent to Green Bay, prob- 
ably towards the latter end of the year. The two Fathers 
divided then the various missionary stations in Wisconsin 
among them-selves. Father Andre taking the missions on both 
shores of Green Bay and up the Fox river, whilst Father 
Allouez attended those more distant inland. 

Father Andr6 composed religious hymns on the principal 
doctrines of faith and against pagan superstitions, which he 
taught the children to sing to the accompaniment of the 
flute. This enraged the pagans. During his temporary ab- 
sence they burnt his house and his whole winter supply of 
dry fish, his nets, and all he had. Undaunted by this. 
Father Andre raised a cabin on the ruins of the old one de- 
stroyed, and renewed his attacks on pagan superstition and 
polygamy. As the Indians were addicted to demon-worship, 
they attacked the Father for his opposition to their demon- 
olatry. " The devil," exclaimed a chief, " is the only great 
chief; he put Christ to death and he will kill you, too." 
Father Andre, however, labored on undauntedly, and made 
converts even in the wigwams of his bitterest enemies at 
Chouskouabika (pronounced Shoos-quah-bee-kah) and Ous- 
souamigong (pron. Oos-swau-mee-gong). 

The number of converts kept steadily increasing, and when 
Father Marquette passed through Green Bay in 1673, on his 
way to discover and explore the Mississippi, he found 2,000 
baptized in the mission of St. Francis Xavier and its de- 
pendencies. Towards the end of that year Father Marquette 
returned to Green Bay, broken down in health through the 
hardships endured during his voyage down the Mississippi. 
He stopped with Father Andre till the fall of 1674. Despair- 
ing of human help, he had recourse to the Blessed Virgin 
Immaculate, and made with the fervent neophytes of St. 
Francis mission a novena in her honor, in order to obtain 
through the powerful intercession of the Mother of God the 
recovery of his health, so as to enable him to found the mis- 
sion of the Immaculate Conception among the Illinois. 
Their prayer was heard, and towards the end of October, 
1674, Father Marquette started for Illinois by way of Sturgeon 
Bay and Lake Michigan. 



240 

Father Andre labored on successfully, making converts and 
repressing idolatry. His house at St. Francis Xavier had 
been burned down by the pagans; another on the Me- 
nominee now shared the same fate. Most of the year he 
spent in his canoe visiting his missions along the bay and up 
the Fox river. In 1676 Father Charles Albanel, just return- 
ing from an English prison, became Superior of the western 
missions, and took up his residence at Depere, where he 
built a beautiful church, aided by Nicolas Perrot and other 
French traders. 

In 1680 Father John Enjalran was stationed at Depere, 
but how long he labored there is not known. At any rate, 
the church built by Father Albanel stood yet in 1686, the 
date engraved on the monstrance donated by Nicolas Perrot 
to the church of St. Francis Xavier. Things now took an 
unfavorable turn. War broke out between some Wisconsin 
tribes, and the missionaries were in constant danger. A 
servant of the missionaries was pursued by the Winnebagoes, 
near Sturgeon Bay, and, in trying to escape, he ran through 
a grove of saplings. All of a sudden the hair of his whig 
got entangled in some branch overhead, which caused it to 
come off. The savages in pursuit, seeing what they sup- 
posed the brother's scalp and his bald head, halted, much 
astonished, to examine the whig, and this gave him a chance 
to escape. But unhappily he came upon another band of 
the same tribe, who unmercifully killed him. There is a 
tradition among the French pioneers of Green Bay that 
about the same time also a Jesuit Father was killed near 
Sturgeon Bay by the same Indians. The writer, however, 
thinks that the tradition of the Father's death does not rest 
on a very reliable foundation. Among the Foxes another 
lay -brother was cruelly treated and compelled by a chief to 
work for him, a drawn sword being held over his head at 
times. Father Enjalran accompanied the Ottawa troops led 
by Durantaye in Denonville's expedition against the Senecas. 
Whilst fearlessly attending the wounded on the field of 
battle, he was himself several}^ wounded. During his ab- 
sence the pagans fired his church and house at Depere. He 
subsequently returned to his mission at Depere, but how 
long he remained there is not known. In the winter of 1700 
he was living at Mackinaw, and thenceforth his name ceases 
to be mentioned. 



241 

When the historian Charlevoix visited Green Bay in 1721, 
he found at the Fort of the Bay of the Puants (Green Bay) 
the amiable Father Jean Baptiste Chardon, a Jesuit Father, 
whose chapel was about a mile and a half from the mouth 
of the Fox river, up river, on the eastern bank of the river,_a 
very short distance west of the present French church in 
Green Bay; the place is now covered with water. Medals, 
crosses, and other devotional articles have been found there. 
Father Chardon evangelized the Sacs, but not finding them 
docile, he was studying diligently the Winnebago language, 
in order to preach to that tribe. Charlevoix, in his capacity 
as embassador of the king of France, told the Sacs to respect 
and listen to their missionary, if they wished to retain the 
king's favor. That same year Father Chardon was sent to 
the Illinois. He was the last Jesuit Father that resided at 
Green Bay of whom we have any authentic account. 

The wars between the French and Foxes greatly embar- 
rassed missionary efforts. The Green Bay mission was per- 
haps occasionally visited by Jesuit Fathers residing at Macki- 
naw (Michillinimackinac) between 1721 and 1765. It is 
during this period that two Jesuit Fathers, whose names are 
unknown, were killed at Depere. The event did not occur 
prior to Charlevoix's visit to Green Bay in 1721, for neither 
the Relations nor Charlevoix say anything about it. More- 
over, as Augustin Grignon, in his memoires of his maternal 
grandfather, Charles de Langlade, who came to Green Bay 
between 1744-46, mentions nothing of this tragical event, we 
must conclude that it did not occur after 1744, but before it, 
between 1721-45, probably during the French and Fox war 
of 1728. Elsewhere we have discussed this subject more at 
length. 

The war that broke out between the French and English 
for the possession of Canada, 1754-59; then the Pontiac war, 
1760-64; the American Revolution, 1776-83, kept the North- 
west in a continual state of excitement, so that hardly any- 
thing could be done for the conversion of the Indians. 
Finally, the suppression of the illustrious Jesuit Order by 
Pope Clement XIV., in. 1775, was for a time the death-blow 
of Indian missionary work. A Recollect Father stationed 
at Fort Ponchartrain (Detroit) made perhaps an occasional 
visit to Green Bay, the last time about 1793. 



242 

The first white settlers who located permanently at Green 
Bay about 1745, were the Sieur Augustin de Langlade, a Pari- 
sian by birth, and his son Charles, born in Mackinaw in 1729, 
A few other French families soon arrived. In 1785 the colony 
numbered seven families, with fifty-six inhabitants. In 1792 
and 1804 the settlement increased by the arrival of a few 
French-Canadian families, so that at the beginning of the war of 
1812 there were 250 inhabitants. In 1816 an American garri- 
son arrived at Green Bay on the 16th of July, under command 
of Col. Miller, Maj. Gratiot, Chambers, and other officers. 
They erected a fort on or near the site of an old French fort 
on the west side of the river, called Fort Howard. At that 
time the Menominees had a village near by, about a half a 
mile distant, under a chief with the name of Tomah (Thomas). 
Col. Miller requested the Menominees to give their consent 
for the erection of a fort in the neighborhood, which consent 
was duly given, the Indians receiving flour, pork and some 
"fire- water." 

Green Bay now began to grow, settlers moved in, a home 
market was established for the surplus productions of the 
soil, and vessels arrived from time to time with supplies for 
the garrison and settlers. In 1820 Col. Ebenezer Childs 
located not far from Fort Howard, on the west side of the 
river. Next year Daniel Whitney arrived; he was the first 
American that opened a store at Green Bay. That same fall 
came Gen. William Dickenson and three other Americans. 
Early in the season of 182] a large delegation of Oneida and 
Stockbridge Indians arrived at Green Bay in order to make 
arrangements with the Menominee Indians for settling in 
their country. The arrangements were perfected and the 
Oneidas located six miles west of the bay, and the Stock- 
bridges twenty-four miles above Green Bay on the Fox River. 
The Oneidas still reside on the reservation where they were 
first located; but the Stockbridges subsequently removed to 
the east side of Lake Winnebago, and many live on a reser- 
vation not far from Shawano. After the Black Hawk war of 
1832 Green Bay grew rapidly. (Wis. Hist. Coll., vol. III.) 

Michigan territory with its northwestern district, com- 
prising Mackinaw County, Upper Michigan, and Brown and 
Crawford Counties, embracing the present State of Wisconsin 
and part of Minnesota, was formerly under the jurisdiction 
of the bishop of Quebec, which episcopal see was founded in 



243 

1659, Monseigneur Laval, Bishop of Petrea, I. P. I., being the- 
first bishop. He arrived in Quebec on the 16th of June, 1659, 
and labored with apostolic zeal among the French and In- 
dians until 1672, when he went to France. June the 19th,- 
1821, Pius VIII. erected the bishopric of Cincinnati, which 
was to comprise Ohio, Michigan and the Northwestern Terri- 
tory. He appointed for that see Rev. Edward Fenwick, of 
Maryland, ot the Dominican Order. He had two vicar- 
generals, namely Frederic Rese, afterwards first bishop of 
Detroit, and Gabriel Richard, a Sulpitian and pastor of St.. 
Ann's in Detroit, Mich., since 1799. 

Thirty years had elapsed since a Catholic priest had visited 
Green Bay (1793-1823). In 1823 Father Gabriel Richard of 
St. Ann's Church, Detroit, Mich., came to Green Bay and 
said Mass in Pierre Grignon's house, situated on Washington 
Street (in 1866 the property of Dr. Crane). In 1824 Green 
Bay numbered 500 inhabitants. Rev. J. Vincent Badin, 
stationed at St. Joseph's Mission, Mich., among the Potta- 
watamies, visited Green Bay three times, staying each time- 
a month or so to attend to the spiritual wants of the people. 
His three visits occurred in 1825, 1826, and in the summer of 
1828. In the fall of the same year, 1828, Rev. P. S. Dejean 
visited the mission. 

Pierre Grignon had given, but without a deed, six lots on 
which to build a church and school, but at his death this pro- 
perty passed over to his heirs. A school, which was also to 
serve as a chapel, was built of logs, and Rev. Badin appointed 
a Frenchman with the name of Favrell to keep school and al- 
lowed him to assemble the people on Sundays, read to them 
the Gospel of the day, sing hymns and read prayers. But 
Favrell soon overstepped the limits of his permit and at- 
tempted to say Mass, minus the consecration, and to make 
processions accompanied by the soldiers of Fort Howard. 
He made a trip to Europe with an Indian, whom he every- 
where exhibited, and the presents often made to the latter 
found their way into the Frenchman's pocket. To crown his 
work of hypocrisy and imposition he attempted to start a 
church of his own, but failed egregiously. In 1832 Very 
Rev. Frederic Reve was sent to Green Bay to rid the country 
of this impostor. 

In 1830 Bishop Fenwick of Cincinnati visited Green Bay, 
remaining only for a few days, but in the following year, 



244 

1831, he stopped there for three weeks, accompanied by- 
Rev. Samuel Mazzuchelli, arriving there on the 11th of 
June. They held a kind of mission during their stay, 
preaching several times a day and hearing confessions often 
until ten or eleven o'clock at night. Many who had not gone 
to confession for twenty, thirty, and forty years made their 
peace with God. The bishop confirmed 100 persons. A site 
was selected for a church in Menomineeville (Shanteetown), 
half way between Green Bay and Depere, $300 subscribed for 
the building, and the work begun. This church burnt down 
in 1846. 

In 1832 Rev. Fathers Simon Siinderl and Fr. X. Hiitscher, 
C. S. S. R., where stationed at Green Bay, where they bap- 
tized a great many Menominees, and likewise some at Grand 
Kakalin (near Little Chute). They left in the fall of 1833 and 
went to ArbreCroche, Mich,, intending to establish, if possi- 
ble, a house of their order there for the conversion and 
civilization of the Ottawas of that district. In 1832, Sept. 
26th, Rt. Rev. Edward Fenwick died of the cholera, on an 
episcopal visitation, at Wooster. The same year also Father 
Richard, of Detroit, died of the same disease. 

In November, 1833, Rev. S. Mazzuchelli, 0. P., came with 
two nuns, cloistered Poor Clares, to Green Bay. Sister Clare, 
an American lady and a convert, was superioress. The other 
was Sister Therese Bourdaloue, and their Superioress in 
Detroit, whence they had come, was Sister Francoise De la 
Salle. They bought two acres of land from a man with the 
name of Ducharme, in Menomineeville (Shanteetown), to 
erect thereon a house of their Order and a school. They 
taught school for some time, and there are still people alive 
(1886) who went to their school. They remained from a year 
and a half to two years, and- were there during the fearful 
cholera visitation in 1834, when Father Van den Broek, 0. P., 
was stationed in the Green Bay mission. They assisted in 
attending to the sick and burying the dead. Sometimes 
no one could be found to bury the dead, and Father Van 
den Broek, with the two Sisters, were obliged to bury them. 
Often four and five died in one house, of the terrible sick- 
ness, many even while making their confession, and some- 
times several bodies were buried in one and the same grave. 
Father Van den Broek, who had arrived in the summer of 
1834, labored in the Green Bay mission for about two years 



245 

and then went to reside in Little Chute. In December, 1836, 
Fathers Hatscher and Probst, C. S. S. R., took charge of Green 
Bay, but only for some months, and also Father Bernier was 
there, probably only on a passing visit. In fact, it can be 
said that Father Van den Broek attended the mission from 
1834-1838, namely, for two years whilst residing at Menomi- 
neeville, and again two years after having moved to Little 
Chute. 

In the night of the 14th of April, 1838, being the Saturday 
night of Holy Week, between the hours of ten and three, 
three soldiers of Fort Howard violently entered the church 
at Menomineeville and robbed " one silver urn, one silver 
chalice and cover (ciborium, scattering the consecrated hosts 
on the floor), one silver communion cup" and other articles 
of the value of $300 (ita Acta judicialia in Green Bay). 
The names of these sacrilegious robbers are Samuel Richard- 
son, Lucius G. Hammon and Nelson W. Winchester. The 
stolen articles were found buried in the sand. The celebrated 
monstrance of 1686 was among the stolen articles. The per- 
petrators of this dastardly deed were sentenced to imprison- 
ment at hard labor from six to twelve months. 

Father Florimond Bonduel was stationed during two terms 
at Green Bay; the flrst time from 1838-43, and then again 
from 1858-61. After him came Rev. Peter Carabin, a Ger- 
man, from 1843-47, who in his turn was succeeded by Rev. 
A. Godfert, from October, 1847 to September, 1849. In the 
same month of September, 1849, Rev. Anton Maria Ander- 
leder, S. J., at present Superior General of the whole Jesuit 
Order, and Rev. Joseph Brunner, S. J., came to Green Bay. 
Father Anderleder left in September, 1850, but his colleague, 
Father Brunner, remained one year longer in Green Bay, 
and then went to Manitowoc Rapids, where he was stationed 
for five years. He then was removed by his superiors to 
New Westphalia, Missouri, where he resided for two years, 
then went to Europe and from thence to Bombay, Hindoo- 
stan, where he labored most zealously for nineteen years. 
Father Brunner was succeeded in 1851 by Rev. John C. Per- 
rodin, from 1851-57. 

In 1868, Green Bay was elevated to the dignity of an 
Episcopal See, and Rt. Rev. Joseph Melchers was consecrated 
its first Bishop, on the 12th of July of that year. 



Some Peculiarities of the Chippewa Lano^uage. 



1. Long words. — The Chippewa language abounds in 
long words, man}'- of them containing eight, ten and even 
more syllables; e.g.: Mitchikanakobidjigan — fence; madwes- 
sitchigewinini— bell-ringer; metchikanakobidjiganikewininiivis- 
dgohanenag (nineteen syllables!) a participle, meaning " men 
who perhaps did not build fences." There are two reasons 
■to account for these long words. First, the continual adding 
of new syllables to express the various moods, tenses, per- 
sons, and participles of the verb, which in modern languages 
are mostly formed by means of short auxiliary words, has, 
shall, did, would, etc. For instance, take the verb, nin 
wabama (root wab); from this verb are formed words of 
seven to eleven sylables; e. g., wabamawindiban, he was per- 
haps seen; waiabamigowagobanen, they who were perhaps 
seen by, etc. Secondly, the compounding of words from two 
or more roots; e. g., kijabikisigan, from "kij," referring to 
heat; "abik" refers to iron, metals, and shows that the heat- 
ing is caused by something made of iron or some metal; "is," 
has reference to bwning and indicates that in this " heating 
iron," fire is made to burn; finally " igan " is the termination 
of a noun, derived from a working verb and indicates the 
object that performs the action described in the verb, that is 
it names the object or thing doing the work; e. g., pakiteige, 
he hammers; pakiteigan, a hammer. Thus the Chippewa 
word names the object and in that name it mentions often the 
material from which the instrument is made and the end, pur- 
pose and object, for which it is intended, the same as, e. g., 
telephone, telegraph, etc. 

2. Great number of Verbs. — Perhaps nine-tenths, if not 
more, of all Chippewa words are verbs. The language, 
therefore, is the very expression of life, activity, being, action. 
JNouns are transformed into verbs, e. g., ininiwi, he is a man. 



247 

from inini, a man; nokomissiban, the grandmother I once 
had, i. e., my deceased grandmother, from nokomiss, my 
■grandmother. Adjectives are changed into verbs, e. g., gwan- 
^tchiwan, it is beautiful, from the adjective "gwanatch," 
beautiful. Numerals are made into verbs, e. g., nijiwag, there 
are two, from ''nij," two. Adverbs are transformed into verbs, 
•e. g., bakanad, it is otherwise, different, from "bakan," dif- 
ferently, otherwise. A great many different verbs, belonging 
to different conjugations, and differing in meaning, are formed 
from one and the same root, e. g., the root " wab," has refer- 
ence to seeing; from this root are derived nin wabama, I see 
him — nin waloandan, I see it — nin wabandis, I see myself — 
wabandiwag, they see each other — wabange, he looks on, is a 
spectator — o wabangen, he looks on it-^o wabangenan, he looks 
on him — wabi, he sees. All these derivative verbs are formed 
from their primary root or radix, according to certain regular 
rules. 

3. No Gender in the CifippEw^A language. — All nouns, 
adjectives and verbs are divided into two classes, namely, 
animate and inanimate. Animate refers to living beings, be 
they really so or only by grammatical acceptation. Inanimate 
indicates lifeless, inanimate things, real or grammatical!}^ so 
considered. In transitive verbs the object of the verb decides 
whether the verb to be used is to be animate or inanimate, 
e. g., nin sagia aw anishinabe, I like, love that Indian; the 
verb "sagia" is animate because its object anishinabe, Indian, 
is animate — o sagiton ishkotewabo, he likes, loves fire-water 
'(whiskey), the verb " sagiton " is inanimate, because its ob- 
ject, ishkotewabo, fire-water, is inanimate. In intransitive 
verbs the subject of the verb determines the character of the 
verb, e. g., nagosi anang, a star (gram, anim.), is visible. Here 
the verb is animate, because the subject, anang, star, is 
grammatically animate; nagwad anakwad, a cloud, is visible; 
here the verb, " nagwad," is inanimate, because anakwad 
(cloud) is inanimate. 

4. Dual form. — Besides singular and plural they have a 
kind of dual, in the first person plural, and this dual form is 
systematically employed in all transitive and active verbs 
and participles. The pronoun '' we " has a double form in 
'Chippewa to express its double signification. If the word 
we is meant to signify not onlj'- the speaker and his party, 
■but also the person ol' persons spoken to, then they use ki, 



248 

kinawind. But if the pronoun we is to be confined to the 
speaker and his party (duo), they use the dual form, niriy 
ninawind. Hence, when we speak of God, we use the plural 
form, Kossinan (Our Father), and when we speak to Him, 
praying, we employ the dual form Nossinan. So also in the 
verbs and participles, e. g., kinawind waiahamang aw inini, we 
(includes the speaker, his party, and persons spokea to — plural) 
who see that man ; ninawind waiabnjmangid aw inini, i. e., 
we (only the speaker and his party — duo, dual form) who 
see that man. From these examples it will be seen that the 
Chippewa dual is not exactly like the Greek dual, though it 
somewhat resembles it. 

5. Affirmative and Negative forms. — All verbs have 
two forms, the affirmative and the negative, and each has its 
proper moods, tenses, and participles. In other languages, 
the negative is only expressed by the word ^^ not,'^ whilst the 
verb itself remains the same, whether something be affirmed 
or denied. In Chippewa there is a double negation; first in 
the word "?ioi," kawin, and secondly by the verb itself, which 
also expresses the negation, e. g., ikito, he says (affirmative), 
kawin ikitossi, he does not say (negative form); enamiad 
(affirm.), one who prays, i. e., a Christian — enamiassig 
(negat.), one who does not pray, i. e., a pagan. Hence it can 
be truly that on account of this double form, affirmative and 
negative, the nine Chippewa conjugations really amount to 
eighteen. 

6. DuBiTATiVE FORM. — All Chippewa verbs have a double 
conjugation, which might be designated the Assertive and 
the Dubitative conjugations of said verbs, and both of these 
conjugations have an affirmative and negative form ; e. g. 
ikito, he says — root "ikit." 

. ,. f Nind ikit — I say (affirmative). 

' \ Kawin nind ikitossi— I do not say (negative). 

!" Nind ikitomidog — Perhaps I say (affirmative). 
Kawin nind ikitossimidog — Perhaps 1 do not 
say (negative). 
The dubitative, as the word implies, means an affirmation 
or negation made with some doubt, uncertainty, and is also 
used in speaking of historical events or facts of which the 
speaker was not a witness. Thus the Chippewa Indian can 
express by the verb itself the nicest shade of thought, posi- 



249 

tive assertion or doubtful, positive denial or dubitative. It 
also reveals a hidden phase of their mental life; their vacil- 
lating, hesitating, undecided way of acting, thinking, and 
talking. There is no positivism in his mental make-up. On 
account of this dubitative form, we can truly say that the 
nine Chippewa conjugations amount to thirty-six ! 

7. Great number of terminations. — From this multi- 
plicity of conjugations, forms, moods, tenses and participles 
the reader can form some idea of the endless number of 
terminations, with which the Chippewa verb abounds to 
express every possible form of thought, action, or being. At 
the most moderate calculation, the first conjugation contains 
122 terminations, and the fourth at least five hundred, if not 
more. It is an herculean task to commit all these termina- 
tions to memory, to remember the particular idea each one 
of them conveys, and to understand and employ them 
readily in conversation. The writer ventures the opinion 
that no white man ever spoke the Chippewa language to per- 
fection, not even excepting Bishop Baraga, who composed a 
dictionary and grammar of their language. 

8. Wonderful regularity and system in the Chippewa 
LANGUAGE. — There are only two irregular verbs in the whole 
language. Neither Latin nor Greek can compare with the 
Chippewa in regularity and system. Every possible shade 
and variety of thought, action and being can be expressed in 
that language with regularity and precision. The more the 
scholar studies it, the more he admires its systematic evolu- 
tion of forms to express corresponding ideas. It may be 
compared to a majestic Gothic cathedral, where each stone 
and timber fits in its place. It is the very opposite of the 
English language, a congiomeration, so to say, of Anglo- 
Saxon, British, Danish, Norman, Greek, Latin, etc., without 
hardly anything like rule, regularity, or system. The Chip- 
pewa language is the very embodiment of rule, system, and 
regularity. The originators of that language in ancient 
times must have attained a high degree of civilization. Our 
Indians now are but the remnant of ancient civilized races 
sank into barbarism through incessant wars, immigrations 
and vice. Their language, it is true, is poor in abstract 
words or terms to express abstract ideas, but the fault is not 
in the language, but in the Indian's mode of life. He is a 
child of nature in all its individuality and concreteness . 



250 

Hence his ideas move only in the circle of concrete, indi- 
vidualized nature, and his language is necessarily bounded 
by the same limits. Were they a European nation, with the 
breadth and depth of European ideas, they could mould 
their language so as to make it express every idea con- 
ceivable. This is shown in the names they have given to 
objects of civilized make and invention, e. gf., biwabiko- 
mikana, iron road, i. e., railroad ; ishkotens, a little fire, i. e., 
a match. 

9. Plasticity of the language. — In English, most of 
the names of modern inventions are taken from the Greek 
language as being the most plastic and expressive of known 
languages for the coining of new words and names. Thus 
the theological word " incarnation " is rendered in Chippewa 
by " anishinabewiidisowin," which is a far better and more 
intelligible expression of that mystery than the word in-, 
carnation itself, and even the German word, ^'Menschwerdung.''^ 
It is derived from the verb, anishinabewiidiso, he makes him- 
self man (in German: (£r mac^t [i(^ gum 9Jienjc^en). This one 
example will suffice to show that the Chippewa language, if 
moulded by the European mind, would be wonderfully 
adapted for scientific, philosophic and theologic branches of 
learning. And this plasticity, this adaptibility for the coin- 
ing and compounding of words is one reason why there are 
so many long words. They originate from the attempt to 
convey in one word, two, three, or more distinct ideas; e. g., 
bidassimishka, he is coming here in a canoe, boat; from bi, 
denoting approach; ondass, come here; bimishka, becomes 
or goes in a boat, canoe. As most commonly every consonant 
is followed by a vowel, it is easy to clipp off a part of the 
word, retaining but the root to preserve the radical meaning, 
and then add to it two or three roots of other words, and 
thus make a new word. Thus, I wash my feet, my hands 
are cold, he regards me with compassion, I come to him 
begging, weeping with hunger, are all expressed in Chippewa 
by one single word. The same idea is manifested in many 
Latin words, adopted into the English language, e. g., edify, 
manufacture, pontificate. 

10. Euphony. — The Chippewa Indians pay great atten- 
tion to harmoniousness of sound. Hence they often prefix 
or add a vowel to a word, in order to prevent the concurrence 
of disagreeable, harsh-sounding consonants; e. g., " epitch," 



251 

if followed by a word beginning with a consonant, will be 
made epitchi. Thus they prefix the letter i to na, dash, etc., 
if the preceding word terminates in a consonant that does 
not well assimilate with the n or d of the following word 
For the same reason they put a consonant between two 
words, the one concluding and the other beginning with a 
vowel; e. g., anamiewabo, holy water, from anamie. holy 
sacred, appertaining to prayer; and abo, referring to water 
and hquids; the letter w is inserted for the sake of Euphony. 
11. Various kinds of Verbs formed from one and the 
SAME ROOT.— Let us take for instance the root anok, which has 
reference to work, labor. From this root are formed: 
• a. The Common verb, anoM, " he works." 

b. The Reciprocal verb, anohitaso, "he works for himself." 
These verbs show a reaction of the subject on itself; e. a. nin 
wabandis, " I see myself." ' 

c. The Communicative verb, anokitadiwag, " they work for 
each other." These verbs show a mutual action of two or 
more subjects upon each other; e. g., nin migadimin, "we are 
fighting with each other." 

d. The Personifying verb, nind anokitagon, " it works for 
me, serves me." These verbs represent inanimate things as 
actmg like animate beings; e. g., ki-ga-nissigon ishkotewabo,'" 
hrewater (whiskey) is going to kill you." 

e. The Reproaching verb, anokitashki, " he has the bad (?) 
habit of working." These verbs signify that their subject has 
a habit or quahty that is reproach to him; e. g., minikweshki, 

he has the bad habit of drinking; he is a drunkard" (from 
minikwe, "he drinks"). 

/. The Feigning verb, anokikaso, "he feigns; makes believe 
he is working." These verbs are used to express feigning, 
dissimulation; e. g., nibakaso, "he feigns to sleep" (from' 
niba, " he sleeps"). 

g. The Causing verb, nind anokia, "I make him work- 
cause him to work." The verbs indicate that the subject of 
the verb causes its animate object to act or do something; 
e. g., manisse, "he chops wood"; nin manissea, " I make him 
chop wood." 

h. The Frequentative verb, aianoki, " he works often," nita- 
anoki, "he is industrious; likes to work." These verbs in- 
dicate a repetition or reiteration of the action expressed by 



252 

the verb; e. ^., nin tangishkawa, " I kick him," nin tatangish- 
kawa, " I kick him several times." 

i. The Pitying verb, anokishi, " he works a little " (being 
still weak, sickly). These verbs are used to manifest pity; 
e. g., nin debimash, " it is but too true what they say of me;" 
nind akosish, " I am deserving a pity; being sick." 

In the same manner various kinds of verbs are formed 
from nouns transformed into verbs. Take for instance the 
noun ogima, " a chief"; from this root are formed : 

a. The Substantive verb, ogimawi, " he is chief; he rules." 

b. The Common verb, nind ogimakandawa, " I rule over 
him; govern him; am his chief." 

c. The Abundance verb, ogimaka, " there are many chiefs " 
(e. g., in a certain place). These verbs signify an abundanc* 
of what they express; e. g., sagime, "a mosquito"; sagimeka 
oma, " there are lots of mosquitoes here." 

d. The Possessive verb, nind ogimam, " I have a chief." 
These verbs denote possession of property; e. g., mokoman, 
" a knife " (hence kitchi mokomanag, " the Big Knives," i. e., 
the Americans), nind omokoman, " I have a knife." 

e. To these may be added the so-called Working verbs, 
which denote doing or making a thing; e. g., pakwejigan, 
"bread," pakwejiganike," "he, she makes bread." 

All these verbs are formed according to certain fixed rules, 
so that from one simple root perhaps a dozen or more different 
verbs may be formed, and, as from each verb of these kind 
verbal nouns may be made, it is easy to be seen that the 
Chippewa language is richly supplied with verbs and verbal 
nouns, far more so than any of our modern or classic 
languages, that is, for expressing every possible mode of 
being and acting in Indian life. It is truly a living, acting 
language ; everything in it seems to live and act. 

For further interesting peculiarities of the Chippewa 
language, we refer the reader to Bishop Baraga's Chippewa 
Dictionary and Grammar, published by Messrs. Beauchemin 
& Valois, 256 and 258 St. Paul street, Montreal, Canada. 



CHIPPEWA ROOTS 

(Radical Syllables or Words) Resembling Those of 
European and Asiatic Languages. 



Abreviations:— Sanscrit (Sans.)— Greek (Gr.)— Gothic (Goth.)— Latin (Lat.)— 
Lirhuanian (Llth.)— Sclavonic (Scl.)— German (Germ.)— Hebrew (Hebr.)— 
Hibernian (Hib.)— Celtic (Celt.)— English (Eng-1.)— Anglo-Saxon (A. Sax.)— 
Danish (Dan.)— Dutch (D.)— Russian (Russ.)— Old Germ. (O. Germ.) 

Aba — Chippewa formative conveying the idea of the Eng- 
lish prefix: un ; e. g., nind abaan, I untie it ; nind ababi- 
kaan, I unlock it. It also means, of, off, from; Sans., apa; 
Lat., ab; Gr., apo; Goth., af; D., af; Germ., ab (abnehmen). 

Abaio, bato, means, to run; e. g., bimibato, I run by (a 
person, house); nin kijikabato, I run fast. Gr., baino; 
Fr., s'abattre. 

Abi, signifies : to be in a place; e. g., pindig abi, he is in- 
side (house, etc.); nind abitan, I inhabit it, abide in it. 
Engl., abide; Lat., habitare; A. Sax., abidan; O. Germ., 
bitan; Goth., beidan; Dan., bie (perhaps, by, bei). 

Abo, refers to liquids; e. g., enamiewabo (prayer- water) 
holy water; ishkotewabo, fire water, whiskey. Sans., ap 
(water); Lat., aqua; Goth., ahra, water (flumen); Lith.,uppe, 
river. 

Aiabe, nabe, refers to male beings. Hebr., habbah, or 
abba, father (primogenitor), abbas; Eng., abbot; Germ., abt 
(perhaps the Germ, word, knabe, is derived from a similar 
root). 

Animad, it blows, refers to wind, breath; e. g., minwani- 
mad, the wind is good, favorable. Sans.,-an (sonare), anila, 
wind, anemos; Lat., animus, anima; Hib., anal, breath, 



254 

anam, life; Goth., us, ana (expire); Eng., animate; Dan., 
aand; Germ., odem, athem, athmen. 

Andj, a formative syllable, implying change, alteration; 
e. g., nind andjiton, I change it; andj' ijiwebisin, change your 
way of living, your conduct. This formative is very much 
used in compounding words, and always conveys the idea of 
change. Sans., antara (derived from antar, Lat., inter, sub); 
Goth., anthar; Germ., anders, andern; Lat., alter, the "1" 
taking the place of the Chippewa "n"; Eng., alter, other. 

Aw, this; e. g., aw inini, this man. Hebr., hou (him). 

Baia, means something bad or wicked; e. g., bata dodamo- 
win, bad doing, bad action; bata ijiwebisi, he is bad, wicked. 
Engl., had ; Germ., bose; Goth., bauths, deaf, dumb, dull. 

Bi, b/'c, has reference to liquids, water; e. g., onagan mosh- 
kinebi, the dish is full (of water or some other liquid); 
ogidibic, on the water; giwashkwebi, he is drunk, dizzy from 
drinking. Gr., pino; Lat., bibo; Fr., boire; Sans., pitar 
(beer (?); Germ., bier). 

B/', a prefix and formative, conveying the idea of some- 
thing coming to, or being brought to where the speaker is; 
e. g., bi-ijan oma, come here! bidon, bring it here. Eng., by; 
Germ., bei. 

Bibagi (root, bag), he calls; halloes. Sans., vac;- Lat., 
voco, vox; old Germ., gi-vag; Serb., vik-ati (vociferate); Fr., 
voix; Eng., vocal. 

Da, refers to place where a person or thing is, or said to 
act; e. g., nin da, I dwell; endaian, where I dwell, my house ^ 
dagwaso, she sews in a certain place, for instance, at home. 
Germ., da, darneben, darunter ; A. Sax., thaer; Goth., thar.; 
Eng., there. 

Dan, has reference to possessing things, riches; e.g., kitchi 
dani, he is rich; daniwin, riches. Sans., dana, riches. 

Dodam, (root dod). Eng., do; D., doen; Germ., thun; 
Sans., da, to put; dadami, I put. Gr., tithemi. 

Gaie, means and. Gr., kai; Lat., que. 

Ga, gin, refers to motherhood; e. g., ninga, my mother; 
kiga, thy mother; ogin, his mother; ogiwan, their mother. 
Sans., gan; Gr., ginomai; Lat., gigno, genui, genitor; Hib., 



255 

genim, I beget; Goth., kin; Eng., kin, kindred; Fr., gen^se, 
generation. 

Ca^wrefl^' (godj) has reference to questioning, trying. Sans., 
cest; Lat., quaesivi; Eng., quest, 'question; e. g., nin gag- 
wedjima, I ask him a question; gagwedjindiwin, question. 

/n/'w, onow, these, those. Sans., ana; Lith., anas, an's (ille, 
ilia); Gr., en, on; Sclav., onu, ona, ono; Chald., inum. 

/sh, an affix, implying contempt; e. g., inini, a man; 
ininiwish, a had man; ikwesens, a girl; ikwesensish, a had 
girl. In English and German the termination "ish" means 
the same thing; e. g., boyish, womanish; Germ., weibisch. 

Jag (pron. zhag or shag) implies the idea of weakness; 
e. g., nin jagwenima, I think he is weak; jagwiwi, he is weak; 
jagwagami anibishabo, the tea is weak. D., zwak; Germ., 
schwach. 

Ki, Kin, thou, thy. Hebr., ka; D., gy. 

Man, a formative syllable, generally indicating something 
bad; e. g., manadad, it is bad; nin manadenima, I think bad 
of him, have a bad opinion of him; manj' aia, he feels un- 
well; manadisi, he looks bad, homely. Lat., malus, bad; as 
in Chippewa they have no " 1," the letter "n" is always sub- 
stituted for it, e. g., angeli — anjeni. As the Latin formative, 
mal, is used in compound words, e. g., malevolus, malignus, 
tnaleficium, etc , and always conveys the idea of something 
bad, so also the Chippewa man has the same meaning in all 
words, in which it occurs The Chippewa and Latin forma- 
tive seem to be identical in meaning and origin. 

Mang, a formative implying something large, great; e. gr., 
mangidibe, he has a large head; mangademo mikana, the 
trail, path, road is large, wide. This root, mang, is much 
used in compound words. Sans., manh; Gr., megas; Lat., 
magnus; Goth , mikils; Hib., mochd; Dan., mange; Germ., 
mancher. Conf. also Chippewa, nin magwia, I am greater, 
stronger than him, surpass, overcome him; nin mamakade- 
nima (root mak), I admire him (for his greatness, strength, 
etc.) 

Man/to, means spirit; e. g., Kije Manito, God; Kitchi 
Manito, the Great Spirit, God. Sans., man to think; manas, 
soul, spirit; Lat., mens; Eng., mind and man; Germ., mann; 
Dan., mand. 



256 

Mashk, refers to anything strong; e. g., mashkawisi, he is 
strong; mashkawagami anibishabo, the tea is strong. Lat., 
magnus ('?); Germ., macht, miichtig; D,, magt. 

Min, the opposite of ''man," implies something good, and 
therefore lovely: e. g., mino inini, a good man; mino ikwe, a 
good woman. It is much used in compound words, nin 
minwadendam, I have good patience; minotchige, he does 
well. Sans., mid, mind to love; D., beminnen, to love; 0, 
Germ., minna, minni love, hence the word minnesiinger. 

Ufa, particle used in asking questions; e. g., ki gi-wabama 
naf did you see him? Lat., ne (putasne?); Fr., ne. 

IVin, means I. Hebr., ani, ni. 

Ningot, means one; ningoting, once. Hebr., achad; Sans., 
eka. 

Nongom, means now. Lat., nunc; Germ., nun; D., nu; 
Eng., now (^perhaps from iw (this) gon (day), this day). 

-on, a formative sj'llable referring to ships, boats ; e. g., 
pindonag (from pind, inside, in, and on, boat, canoe), in a 
canoe, boat; nin mangon. I have a large boat (from mang. 
large, and on boat). Hebr., oni, boat. 

Ogima, means chief ; kitchi ogima, a great chief, a king. 
Gr., hegemon. 

Ond, ondj, conveys the idea of origin, source, cause, reason 
why and for; e. g., Jesus gijigong gi-ondjiba, Jesus came 
from heaven; kin ondji dodam, he does it for you, on your 
account. Lat., unde, inde ; D., ont (ontstaan) ; Germ., ent 
(entkommen). 

Takona (root tak), I take, seize ; e. g., takonigewinini, a 
man who takes people— sheriff, constable. A.-Sax., tacan; 
Eng., take. 

Tang, refers to touching ; e. g., nin tangina, I touch him. 
Lat., tango; Gr., tynchano; Eng., touch ; Germ., tasten 
(antasten); tangible. 

IVan, implies losing; e. g., nin waniton, I lose it; nin wa- 
nendan (I lose it mentally) forget it; nin wanishin, I make 
a mistake ; this root is much used in compound words. 
Hebr., aviin; Lat., vanus, vanitas; Eng., vain. 

Weweni. Eng.. well; Lat., bene; Germ., wohl. (Perhaps 
the root is on, onijishin it is good; participle, wenijishing, 
good, that which is good. 



257 

Wi, a particle prefixed to verbs to denote will, determina- 
tion to do a thing; e. g., nin wi-ija, I will go. Germ, and 
Eng., will; Lat., volo, velle; Gr., boulomai. 

Vl^/c/, widj, conveys the idea of accompaniment and is very 
much used in compound words, 'like the Latin cum (con); 
e. g., widjiwagan, a companion; nin widjiwa, I go with him ; 
widj' anishinabe, fellow-man; (Literally the Germ, mit- 
mensch); Gr., meta; Eng., with; Germ., mit ; D., med; 
Swede, vid; Dan., ved. 

Wiw, wife; e. g., wiwan, his wife. Germ., weib ; D., wyf; 
Eng., wife. 

V/issin, midjin, to eat. Lat., edere, est, or edit; Germ., 
essen, er ist; D,, eten; Eng., eat. 

Many more might be added. 



Chronological Table. 



1490 (?) — Chippewas settle on Madeline (La Pointe) Island. 

1492 — Columbus discovers the New World. 

1534 — Jacques Cartier sails up the St. Lawrence. 

1541 — De Soto discovers the Mississippi. 

1605 — First permanent French settlement in North America, 
made at Port Royal. 

1607 — Jamestown in Virginia founded. 

1608 — Quebec settled by Champlain. 

1615 — Recollect Fathers' arrival in Canada. 

1620 — Landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. 

1625 — First Jesuit Fathers land at Quebec. The Recollect 
Father Viel, the proto-matyr of Canada, is drowned 
by a pagan Indian, at Sault au RecoUet, near Mont- 
real. 

1629 — Canada taken by the English under Kirk, and all the 
missionaries carried to England. 

1632 — Canada restored to France. 

1633 — Jesuits return to Canada. 

1639— Jean Nicollet visits the Winnebagoes and other tribes 
at the head of Green Bay. 

1642 — Fathers Jogues and Raymbault, S. J., plant the cross 
at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. First captivity of 
Father Jogues. 

1646— October 18, Father Isaac Jogues killed by the Mo- 
hawks. 

1648— July 4, Father Anthony Daniel, S. J., killed. - 

1649 — March 16, Father John de Brebeuf, S. J., cruelly put 
to death by the Iroquois. March 17, Father Lale- 
mant, S. J., tortured to death. December 7, Father 
Charles Garnier, S. J., killed, and on the 8th, death 
of Father Natalis Chabanel, S. J. Huron mission 
destroyed. 



259 

1654 — Two French traders pass St. Ignace on their way to 
Green Bay, namely, Grosseilliers and Radisson; 
they are discovered in a starving condition on Made- 
^ line Island; visit the Hurons at the headwaters of 
Black River, Wisconsin, and the Sioux in Minnesota; 
return to Quebec in 1660. 

1656 — Father Leonard Garreau, S. J., killed, 

1660 — October 15, Father Rene Menard, S. J., arrives at 
Keweenaw Bay, Michigan. 

1661 — First mass in Wisconsin, by Father Menard, between 
the 1st and 10th of August; he perishes or is killed 
at the headwaters of Black River, Wisconsin, about 
August 10th. 

1662 — Conflict at Iroqouis Point, Lake Superior. 

1663 — Great earthquake in the whole St. Lawrence valley. 

1665 — October 1, Father Claude Allouez, S. J., arrives at 
Chagaouamigong (Chequamegon) Bay, and begins 
the mission of the Holy Ghost on La Pointe du Saint 
Esprit, at the head of Chequamegon Bay. About 
the same time or before that, Nicholas Perrot visits 
the Pottawatamies at Green Bay. 

1667 — Father Allouez returns to Quebec and brings back 
with him Father Louis Nicolas to La Pointe du 
Saint Esprit. 

1668 — Father Jacques (James) Marquette, S. J., stationed at 
Sault Ste. Marie. 

1669 — Father Claude Dablon, S. J., arrives at the Sault; 
Father Marquette stationed at La Pointe du Saint 
Esprit, September 19. Father Allouez founds the 
Green Bay mission of St. Francis Xavier, Decem- 
ber 3. 

1670 — Father Allouez founds the mission of St. Mark, above 
Lake Winneconne, Wisconsin, April 25 — the mission 
of St. James, not far from Portage City, Wisconsin, 
May 1 — the mission of St. Michael, among the 
Menominees, near the mouth of Menominee River, 
Wisconsin, May 8 — another near Little Sturgeon 
Bay, Wisconsin, among the Winnebagoes and Potta- 
watamies. 

1671— June 14, great mass meeting at Sault Ste. Marie; the 
mission of La Pointe du Saint Esprit abandoned. 



260 

1673 — June 17, Father Marquette and M. Joliet discover the 

Mississippi. 
1674 — Chapel at Sault Ste. Marie burnt by pagan Indians. 
1675 — Father Marquette dies on the eastern shore of Lake 

Michigan. 
1676 — Nice church built at Depere, Wisconsin. 
1677 — Father Marquette's remains brought by a party of 

Kiskakon Indians to Mackinaw and interred at 

Point St. Ignace. 
1679 — Father Hennepin, 0. S. F., and La Salle arrive at 

Mackinaw. Du Luth visits the Sioux, and the fol- 
lowing year goes up the Bois Brule and down the 

St. Croix River, Wisconsin. 
1680 — Father Hennepin ascends the Mississippi to the Falls 

of St. Anthony. September 18, Father Gabriel de 

la Ribourde, O. S. F., killed in Illinois by some 

Kickapoo Indians. 
1687 — Church and mission house at Depere burnt by pagan 

Indians. 
1690 — Father Allouez dies at St. Joseph's mission, Michigan. 
1695 — A French trading post established at Chagaouamigong. 
"^ 1705 — Mission of Mackinaw abandoned; the Fathers with a 

sorrowful heart burn their church to prevent its 

desecration by pagan Indians. 
1721 — The historian, Charlevoix, visits Green Bay; Father 

Chardon, S. J., stationed there at that time. 
1728 — French and Fox war; probably during that war two 

Jesuit Fathers were put to death by pagan Indians 

at Depere, Wisconsin. 
1741-65 — Father Peter du Jau*iay stationed at Mackinaw. 
1745 — Augustine de Langlade and his son Charles settle at 

Green Bay. 
1754 — Commencement of the Old French War. 
1759 — Quebec taken. 

1776 — July 4, Declaration of Independence. 
1783— End of the war between Great Britain and the United 

States. 
1790— Diocese of Baltimore erected. Mt. Rev. John Carroll 

consecrated August 15. 
1793 — May 25, First ordination in the United States, that of 

Rev. Stephen T. Badin. 



261 

1799 — Rev. Gabriel Richard visits Arbre Croche. Washing- 
ton dies. 

1810 — November 4, Rt. Rev. Benedict Joseph Flaget conse- 
crated Bishop of Bardstown, Kentucky. Pope Leo 
XIII. born, March 2. 

1815 — December 3, Archbishop Carroll, Baltimore, died. 
1822 — January 13, Rt. Rev. Edward Fen wick, first Bishop of 

Cincinnati, consecrated. 
1823 — Rev. Gabriel Richard visits Green Bay; a combination 

school and church built; destroyed by fire in 1825. 
1825— Rev. J. V. Badin visits Green Bay, also in 1826, 1828. 
1828 — Rev. P. S. Dejean, of Arbre Croche, Michigan, visits 

Green Bay. 
1830-1831— Rt. Rev._ E. Fen wick visits Green Bay; also V. 

Rev. Frederic Rese. Father Baraga arrives in New 

York, December 31, 1830. 
1831 — First Catholic Church in Wisconsin built at Menomi- 

neeville, near Green Bay — destroyed by fire in 

1846 (?) 
1832 — Rev. Sanderl and Hatscher, C. S. S. R., take charge of 

the Catholic congregation of Green Bay. Bishop 

E. Fenwick, of Cincinnati, dies of the cholera at 

Wooster, Ohio, September 26. Father Van den 

Broek arrives in Baltimore, August 15. 
1833 — Rev. Sanderl and Hatscher go to Arbre Croche. Rt. 

Rev. Frederic Rese, first Bishop of Detroit (and 

first German Bishop of the United States) consecrated 

October 6. 
1834 — July 4, Father T. J. Van den Broek arrives in Green 

Bay — cholera there that same year. 
1835 — Rev. Frederic Baraga arrives in La Pointe, Madeline 

Island, July 27; he builds a chapel at Middlefort. 
1836 — The Redemptorist Fathers take charge of Green Bay 

for the second time. Father Van den Broek goes to 

Little Chute. 
1838 — Rev. Florimond Bonduel takes charge of the Green 

Bay congregation. Visit of Bishop Rese to La 

Pointe, Wisconsin. 
1839 — Father Van den Broek completes his church in Little 

Chute. 



7 ^ T r-J r 




262 



/x-f^ 



1841 — Present church of La Pointe, built by Father Baraga. 
Rt. Rev. Peter Paul Lefevre, coadjutor of Detroit, 
consecrated November 21. 

1843 — Rev. Peter Carabin takes charge of Green Bay. Father 
Baraga removes to L'Anse, Michigan. 

1844 — Rt. Rev. John Martin Henni, of Milwaukee, conse- 
crated March 17 — created Archbishop in 1875 — died 
September 7, 1881. August 16, 1844, Bishop Henni 
confirms 122 Indians and French in La Pointe. 

1845— October 4, Rev. Otta SkoUa, 0. S. F. Str. Obs., arrives 
in La Pointe; removed to Keshina in 1853. 

1847 — Rev. A. Godfert takes charge of Green Bay. Father 
Van den Broek goes to Holland. 

1848 — First settlement of Catholic Hollanders in Wisconsin. 

1849 — Rev. A. Anderledy, S. J., and Jos. Brunner, S. J., take 
charge of Green Bay. 

1850 — Rev. A. Anderledy leaves Green Bay. 

1851 — Father Van den Broek dies at Little Chute, Novem- 
ber 5. 



